Roughing it
by unopeneddoors
Summary: It's Hogwarts' end of year camping trip for the seventh years which is all fine until Lily and James are partnered up for the girl/boy treasure trail and end up getting lost. Mush and heat! James/Lily Remus/OC Please review!
1. The carriage

James Potter ruffled his already messy hair and slung a very heavy backpack over his shoulder. It was mid-May and the seventh years gathered in the entrance hall for their annual end-of-year camping trip.

"Sirius if you don't get a move-on they're going to leave without us!" Remus said as Sirius Black threw the entire contents of his backpack onto the floor.

"I'm not going anywhere until I'm definite that my spray is in here!" He said spreading out the assortment of clothes and hair products he had just thrown onto the floor.

"Why can't you just borrow some of ours?" James asked, folding his arms impatiently.

"Prongs mate, this isn't just any spray," Sirius said with a smile, "This is my guarantee of a female filled holiday."

"And how can a spray guarantee that?" Remus said disbelievingly.

"I dunno, it just works." Sirius shrugged.

"And…how do you know that it's not just your boyish charm that attracts all these girls, Padfoot?" James winked.

"Because the last time I chat up a girl when I didn't wear it…let's just say it was an experience I won't be forgetting any time soon." Sirius said his eyes wide. James and Remus exchanged a disturbed look while Sirius began to cram everything back into his backpack.

"How do muggles fit everything into these without magic?" Sirius said holding up his now full backpack, "You couldn't even fit a cauldron in them!"

"If you don't hurry up I'll fit _**you**_ in my backpack and drag you outside whether you're ready or not!" Remus said irritated.

"Ok, ok Moony I'm ready…" Sirius said, throwing his backpack onto his shoulder.

"Finally," James smiled.

The three boys made their way to the entrance hall where the teachers were attempting to split the seventh years into their houses. Slughorn and his little club of students were huddled in the corner, Lily Evans and her friend Ellie Phelps amongst them looking rather bored.

"Mr Longbottom and Miss Prewett will you kindly cease groping each other so I can put you into groups?" Professor McGonagall said looking rather flustered, "Lupin, Black, Potter, over here! Professor, would you kindly let me take the students off you now? They need to be organized!"

With a wide smile, Slughorn nodded to McGonagall before returning his attention to the students. Eventually, he reluctantly let them go, much to the joy of Lily Evans and her friend. The girls joined the Griffindoors, only a few students away from James, Sirius and Remus.

McGonagall handed Slughorn her clipboard and quill before addressing the students.

"We will be leaving shortly, so will all of you _**please**_ make sure that you have your wands on you?" She called out, clearly having experienced this beforehand. After no-one ran back up to their dorms she continued.

"Now all of you, I am sure, have been put into groups, _**please**_ stay in them; they will be your houses and travelling groups. You can…mingle when we get there! In Professor Slughorns hands are the teachers allocated for each group, Professor if you would kindly…"

"Oh ho!" Slughorn said, suddenly realising why McGonagall had given him the clipboard, "Well yes...erm…righto! Griffindoors with Professor McGonagall, Hufflepuffs with Professor Flitwick, Ravenclaws with Madame Pomfrey and…oh yes! Slytherins with me! Although I must say Minerva my dear I really don't think that camping-"

"Griffindoors follow me!" McGonagall said ignoring Slughorns plea and the Griffindoors followed her out of the entrance hall. Running ahead, James threw an arm around Lily's shoulders with a broad grin.

"Morning Evans," He said as they reached the carriages, "Why don't you come sit by me? I'll keep you warm."

"It's the middle of May Potter," Lily spat, pushing his arm off of her shoulder, "And I don't want to be anywhere near you let alone sit by you!"

"Don't worry Lilypetal my love, once you get some fresh air into your lungs you'll come to your senses."

"The day I fall in love with you, Potter, will be the day I shoot myself."

"Ah but Lilyflower, you have already been shot with cupid's arrow. All you need to do now is admit it."

"Your terrible sense of humour is only one of the reasons I will never go out with you, Potter." Lily said viciously, "Now leave me alone!" James stuck out his bottom lip as Lily crawled into the carriage followed by Ellie who gave him an apologetic look as she sat next to her.

"Better luck next time mate," Sirius said patting James on the back.

"I don't think there's such thing as one hundredth time lucky." Remus said as he crawled into the carriage to sit by Ellie.

"Ah we live in hope." James grinned as he sat opposite Remus and Sirius took a seat next to him.

"So near and yet so far Lilypetal," James sighed at Lily as she rolled her eyes and paid attention to Ellie instead, "She wants me really."  
"Sure she does." Remus smiled, pulling a book from his backpack.

"How did you manage to find a book amongst all your other stuff?" Sirius said in awe.

"I discovered a little something called organization, Sirius," Remus smirked, "Maybe you should try it sometime."

"Sassy," Sirius winked, "Hey, Prongsy, don't you think Remus has a bit of an attitude all of a sudden? Reckon he's finally hit puberty?"

"Funny." Remus said sarcastically, but James was already too busy staring longingly at Lily Evans.

***

"Doesn't she look pretty when she sleeps?" James said absentmindedly as he continued to stare at a slumbering Lily Evans. Sirius, on the other hand, was not paying as much attention to his friend as he was Becky Taylor, who, at this moment in time, had her tongue glued to his. Slightly disgusted by this, Remus attempted to drown out the wet sloppy sounds by becoming fully absorbed in his novel.

"Hi…hello…hello?"

Snapping out of his absent state, Remus looked up to find a slightly bashful looking Ellie staring right at him.

"H-hello?" Remus said confused as to why Ellie Phelps would want to talk to him. Remus had never taken much notice to Ellie Phelps; to him, all she was, was Lily Evans' friend. They had never properly spoken; there had been no reason to. Why did she pick now when he had reached quite an interesting point in his novel?

"Sorry, my bag's gone under your seat…can you..?" She smiled.

"Oh…oh!" Remus said, just registering what she was saying, "Err…yea sure." Bending down, he pulled the bag from under his seat and handed it to her.

"Thanks," She smiled. Ellie turned and gently lifted Lily's head, placing her bag under her, "If she's going to sleep on me at least make it comfortable right?"

Remus smiled politely and returned to his book.

"Whatchya reading?" Ellie said suddenly, to which he responded by raising the cover of the book a little so she could read it.

"Any good?"

Remus nodded his head but did not answer. Giving up, Ellie placed her head gently against Lily's and closed her eyes. Sirius kicked Remus' leg to get his attention.

"Nice going." He mouthed, gesturing Ellie, but Remus just shook his head.

"What?"

Author's note: Ok so this is the intro to a fun idea that randomly popped into my head. I promise the chapters will be longer, this is only the intro. Bring on the mush! Once again, like I say at the beginning of all my fics, PLEASE REVIEW! xxxx


	2. Partnered

"Really Minerva I don't think this was a very good idea…"

"Nonsense, you're just not doing it right!"  
James, Sirius and Remus sat in their tents, clutching their stomachs as they watched Slughorn and McGonagall attempt to put up a tent manually in the pouring rain.

"Do they really think we all actually managed to put up a tent without using magic?" Sirius said through tears of laughter.

"This is actual gold." James grinned.

"Do you think we should tell them?" Remus asked, trying not to laugh. Sirius and James shook their heads.

"Nah…"

Suddenly a cloaked figure emerged from one of the tents just as Slughorns large physique flattened McGonagall's previous attempt, and rushed over to help them. The wind blew viciously, knocking the figures hood back to reveal a mass of fiery red hair.

"James, I think you're about to get your chance to see Lily Evans in wet clothes." Sirius said wiggling his eyebrows in his friend's direction.

"S'cuse me gents as I rescue one fair, fiery haired maiden from the brewing storm." James said, pulling his hood over his head and darting out of the tent.

"He's mad." Sirius said sympathetically, shaking his head.

"Maybe you should give him some of your amazing spray." Remus said over the top of his book.

"I think I should give _**you**_ some."  
"Me?"  
"That Ellie girl made a desperate attempt to talk to you on the way here, and you didn't even answer her most of the time!"

"She didn't make a _**desperate**_ attempt." Remus said, still absorbed in his book, "She just asked if I could pass her, her bag…"

"Yea but then she tried to make small talk…do you know what small talk means Remus?" Sirius said, his eyebrows moving up and down.

"What?" Remus sighed.

"It means that she's interested and wants your attention. If you're anything like me Reemy, you'll turn that small talk into something much more enjoyable."  
"I'm not surprised you were almost castrated without your spray Sirius," Remus said lazily from behind his book.

"I never said that…"  
"You didn't have to." Remus smirked.

***

"Alright Evans?" James said, picking a tent pole up off of the ground

"I would think it perfectly obvious that I'm not!" She said, attempting to pull her hood back over her sopping wet hair, "What do you want Potter?"

"I'm here to rescue you Lilykins." James smirked, "I've decided to forgive you for your hurtful remark earlier."

"Potter, haven't you noticed that I've been making those remarks ever since I met you?"  
"Of course. I was hoping you'd run out of them by seventh year, then maybe you can use your mouth for something else." James winked.  
"Potter you really are the biggest Pr-"  
"Potter!" McGonagall yelled from somewhere round the back of the tent, "Will you please help me get Professor Slughorn up off of the floor?"  
James handed Lily the pole and ran round the back, to which he had to prevent himself from laughing at the sight of Professor Slughorn's rather round body rolling around in the mud. Shoving his arms underneath Slughorns' he heaved, bringing the large potions master to his feet.

"Oh-ho! Thank you James m'boy," Slughorn panted, "I was not made for this sort of activity! Do you know, I don't even know what I'm doing here. I said to Professor Dumbledore-"

"Professor, do you think you could continue this conversation with Potter after we set up the teachers' tent?"

McGonagall yelled, holding herself up by desperately clinging to Lily Evans. By now James could barely see anything through his foggy, splattered glasses as he trudged towards the front of the tent and grabbed a pole. Slughorn lifted the bottom of the tent and the tangle of rope wrapped itself around James' leg. James yelled as he crashed into and fell onto something soft.

"OW!" Lily screamed, "Get off me Potter!"  
"Why? Do you prefer being on top?" James grinned.

"Urgh!" Lily yelled, pushing James of off her and into the mud.

"Oh crap my glasses!" James gasped as he blindly fumbled around in the muck for them.

"Ok, I can't take watching this anymore." Remus said, emerging from somewhere in the rain, pulling James up off of the floor and handing him his glasses.

"Limpendio!" Came a voice from somewhere amongst the carnage and, with a flash of light, the tent erected itself. A soaking wet and cloaked Ellie Phelps stood in the rain.

"Don't you think that by now, you should give up on the character building muggle method?" She said as McGonagall pulled Lily to her feet, almost slipping over herself.

"I thought _**exactly **_that Miss Phelps, in fact, I was about to use magic as soon as I picked Miss Evans off of the floor."

"Truly brilliant my girl!" Slughorn beamed, hurrying inside, "And a gallant effort form both Miss Evans and Mr Potter of course. Maybe we'll use magic next time Minerva."  
"Hopefully I'll have retired by then." McGonagall sighed, trudging, wet and muddy into the teachers' tent, shortly followed by Professor Flitwick and Madame Pomfrey who, coincidently, were no longer pre-occupied.

"Are you ok Lily?" Ellie asked, her dark hair dripping and her makeup running.

"Well I would be if this idiot hadn't fallen on me." Lily spat, gesturing to James.  
"It was an accident!" James said.  
"Watch where you're going then!"

"I can't help it if the rain fogs up my glasses!"  
"Oh come on Potter! That's your excuse?"  
"Who needs an excuse?"  
"You wouldn't get off of me!"  
"It was a joke! Come on Evans, I know you're not this cold."

"A word of advice Potter," Lily said, pulling the hair band from her hair, "The next time you try to woo a girl, don't call her cold to her face!" With that Lily stormed off back to her tent.

"Evans! Oh come on you know I didn't mean…Evans!" James called after her but she didn't turn round.

"Told you there was no such thing as a one hundredth time lucky," Remus said, staring after her, "Maybe you _**should **_borrow some of Sirius' spray."

"Well I suppose I should go after her…" Ellie sighed, "Bye James…bye Remus…"

"Bye," James said, raising an eyebrow at the way she had said Remus' name.

"Bye," Remus said, clearly not having noticed this himself as he was still watching Lily disappearing into the distance.

"Lily, wait a sec!" Ellie called, running off after Lily.

"So…were you playing hard to get or did you really not notice that?" James asked Remus when they were alone.

"Notice what?" Remus blinked.

James shook his head and walked back to the tent, leaving a rather confused Remus staring after him.

***

"Rise and shine sleeping beauty!" James yelled, shaking Sirius ferociously.

"Go away…" Sirius moaned, "It's way too early…"  
"Sirius, it's eleven." Remus said shaking his head, "You missed breakfast."  
"What?" Sirius said, sitting up, "How did I manage that?"  
"You didn't even move when we tried waking you up the last time," James laughed, "We thought you were dead."  
"So you just left me here?" Sirius said, "It's good to know who your mates are."

"On the plus side, that Becky what's-her-face was looking for you." Remus said.

"Yea?" Sirius grinned.

"I guess she was a little nervous that you weren't there, probably thought you were off with someone else."

"Yea she would probably have been right." Sirius said, throwing on a T-shirt.

"How do you manage to get so many when they know you're not going to stick to them?" Remus asked incredulously.

"Looks, charms…I can tell when a girl likes me…?" Sirius smirked.

"So can most people."  
"Yea but evidently not you." James grinned.

"Why do you keep going on about some-"

"Don't worry Moony," Sirius said, patting him on the back, "It will come to you." Remus frowned as the three boys made their way to the teachers' tent where most of the other students had already gathered.

"I wonder what they want us to do today." James said, eyeing Lily from the corner of his eye.

"A treasure hunt." Sirius shrugged.

"How do you know?" Remus asked.

"Cos I read McGonagall's clipboard while you were all rolling around in the mud trying to set up a tent." Sirius grinned, "I think you're all going to like this one though."  
"Why do you say that?" James asked.

"Because it's a boy-girl treasure hunt…and I set up our partners while you kept the teachers pre-occupied." Sirius smiled impishly.

"You did what?" Remus gasped.

"Oh they're not going to notice…" Sirius grinned.  
"Who did you-?" Remus began but he was quickly interrupted.

"Shh! McGonagall's speaking." Sirius smirked.

"Good morning students, I hope you slept well. Now, today we shall be carrying on an old Hogwarts tradition. A paired, boy-girl treasure hunt!" There was an eruption of giggles, gasps and groans from the crowd of students as they edgily began to look round for their possible partners.

"Now, to make it fair we shall be putting you into pairs so…Professor Flitwick you have the clipboard I believe?"

"Oh err yes well…" Flitwick said before clearing his throat, "Simon Abbot and Kelly Smith, Peter Brown and Danielle James, Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom…" Remus and James turned to face Sirius who shrugged.

"I just thought it'd be a nice thing to do…"  
"Tony Robinson and Olivia Nelson, Sirius Black and Becky Taylor…" A squeal erupted from somewhere in the crowd as a pretty blonde girl made her way towards Sirius who wiggled his eyebrows at James and Remus' grinning faces.

"Leon Martin and Jasmine Kettely, Joseph Longbourn and Sandy Graham, James Potter and Lily Evans…" Gasps and chuckles emerged from the crowd as a stunned Lily Evans turned to face James Potter.

"You had something to do with this didn't you?" She snapped.

"I did nothing!" James said, throwing his hands in the air.

"So I'm supposed to believe that this is a coincidence?"  
"I guess so."  
"Urgh!" Lily said as she picked up her backpack and made her way to the starting line.

"Sirius," James said, pulling Sirius' face away from Becky's, "I love you." He pressed his lips to his cheek and ran off after to Lily, much to the disgust of Sirius.

"Liam Gaul and Tracey Turner, Robert Keys and Polly Harris, Remus Lupin and Ellie Phelps."

"Ellie Phelps?" Remus asked a pre-occupied Sirius, "You put me with Ellie Phelps?"

"Mmmhm…" Sirius murmured, his lips still glued to Becky's.

"Sirius ,she doesn't like m-"

"Heya." Ellie said, emerging from the crowd of students.

"Hi," Remus said awkwardly.

"Guess we're partners…" Ellie smiled, equally as awkward.

"Yea…" Remus chuckled nervously, not quite sure what to say.

"I'm going to prove you wrong." Remus growled in Sirius' ear before he made his way to the starting point with Ellie.

"Use protection!" Sirius called after him to which he received a piercing glare.

"I'm thinking…we skip the treasure hunt and do something a lot more fun." Sirius grinned suggestively at Becky.

"What did you have in mind?" She grinned back.

"You'll find out soon enough." Sirius replied, pulling her hurriedly into the forest.

Authors note: And so the plot begins! I hope you like it! I have lot's in store… *giggles mischievously* XD . Once again PLEASE REVIEW! xxxx


	3. Not in the right place

"Right at the…weird shaped blotch and then…past the…blue dot…"

"No, right at 'Nymph's willow' and past the lake…"  
James rotated the map in his hands, squinting through his glasses in an attempt to understand the symbols in front of him.

"How the bloody hell can you tell?"

"There's a key at the bottom Potter." Lily sighed.

"Well I think this is stupid; why do we have to do everything like muggles around here?" James moaned.

"Well for one thing it's supposed to be character building," Lily said moodily, walking ahead, "Second of all, there are muggles living near the area, and in case you've forgotten, _**Potter**_, I was born into a muggle family."  
James scrunched up his face in realisation of what he's just said and cursed under his breath.

_**Nice one James…**_

"I didn't mean that…" He said quietly, "I'm just tired; we've been walking for ages." Lily didn't reply but her pace slowed so that they were almost walking together again.

"Are you sure we're near 'Nymph's Willow'?" James asked to clear the air.

"No, Potter, I'm not sure; you're the one with the map."

"Do you have to call me Potter all the time?" James asked quietly.

"It's your name."  
"James is my name too…"  
"Well maybe I don't want to call you 'James'."  
"Why not?"  
"Because, _**Potter**_, you are the biggest prat I've ever met."  
"And how did you come to that conclusion?"  
"Let's see shall we?" Lily said, whirling round to face him, "You have the biggest head I've ever seen; I'm surprised it can fit on Earth, you bully people, you're shallow, you don't think of anyone else but yourself-"

"OK fine." James interrupted, "Let's not get too carried away before you hurt my feelings…"

Lily smirked and turned on her heel so that she walked in front of James, her pace fast as though she was intending to leave him behind.

"You know, Evans…" James said quietly, "I'm not as bad as you think."  
"Potter please stop talking; it's only going to upset me."  
"But why?" James whined.

"Ok, you know what? From now on I'm just not going to answer."  
"Fine."

The two walked on in silence, James occasionally taking out the map and giving it a quick glance.

"How much further?" Lily sighed, unable to keep the silence for much longer, and James couldn't help but smile.

"I thought you said you weren't going to talk to me?"  
"Shut up Potter, how much further?"

"Erm…I'm not sure…" James said, squinting from behind his glasses.

"Oh give it to me!" Lily barked, pulling the map from his grasp, "Tell me Potter, am I holding the map the right way?"

"I…what?"  
"No, just look at me and tell me." James blinked and looked as Lily held the map up for him.

"Erm…yea?"  
"Really? Wow that's weird, because the _**key is the wrong way round**_," Lily snarled through gritted teeth, "You've been holding the map upside down all this time!"

"Well how was I supposed to know?"

"The writing's upside down!"  
"There are no places on the map, just weird shape thingies!"  
"Which are written in the key!"  
"What in the name of Merlin is a key? I don't see a key anywhere!" James yelled, "We just apparate everywhere or use a portkey: I've never really used a map! Why the hell would a key be on there anyway?"

"No that type of key Potter, a…oh never mind!" Lily squealed, panicking slightly.

"Evans-"James said but he was swiftly interrupted.

"So we have no idea where we are because we've been going in the opposite direction?" Lily said incredulously, "Great, Potter, just _**great**_! Now what are we going to do?"

"Well we could-"  
"It's already getting dark!"

"Evans!" James said, grabbing her by the shoulders, "Its ok…we'll just turn around and come back the way we came."  
"Didn't you hear me? It's getting dark!"

"So? We have an emergency tent, we'll just-"  
"I am _**not**_ staying anywhere alone with you, especially in a forest!"

"Oh come on Evans, like I'd…" James began but stopped as soon as Lily raised her eyebrows at him, "Ok, so maybe I would…but not unless you wanted me to…"  
"I swear Potter if you dare-"  
"Why Lilypetal, I am a gentleman!" James said, "I wouldn't do something if my fair young maiden wouldn't want me to."

"Ok, first of all, I am not your fair young maiden; I am nothing of yours and never will be. Second of all, if you dare touch me…"  
"I promise I wont," James groaned, "Although it pains me to say it…" Lily scowled and marched on back the way they came. James shook his head with a smile and followed shortly after her.

The two trudged through the foliage for quite some time, the sky gradually becoming darker and darker until eventually James removed his rucksack and pulled out a torch.

"They'd know we were missing anyway right?" Lily said nervously as James pulled the emergency tent out of the bag.

"Evans will you stop panicking? We're not missing; we're just not in the right place."

"So we're lost in a forest and no-one knows where we are. That_**is**_missing Potter!"

James sighed and unrolled the tent.

"Limpendio!" He said and the tent instantly erected, complete with pillows and sleeping bags. Lily crawled inside and wriggled under a sleeping bag, hugging her knees as James crawled in after her.

"Do you think they're looking for us?" She asked him as he sat inside his own sleeping bag.

"Evans I'm sure they've noticed by now, and even if they haven't, I'm sure Ellie and your thousands of admirers will in the morning if not tonight." James sighed.

"I don't have thousands of admirers…" Lily said quietly.

"Are you kidding?" James asked, "Almost every guy in our year is after you, Evans."  
"Shut up Potter; you really aren't funny." Lily scowled.

"I'm not trying to be…" James said quietly, "I don't think you realise how amazing you are."  
"Goodnight Potter." Lily said, rolling her eyes and snuggling deeper into her sleeping bags. James bit his lip as he watched her lie there, debating as to whether or not he should chance telling her how he felt for the thousandth time. He longed to reach out and touch the soft, flaming red hair that had fanned out behind her on her pillow, he wanted more than anything to put his arms around her, to pull her closer to him, to hear her breathing while she slept beside him, to kiss her lips…

"Lily…" He said quietly. Lily squeezed her eyes tighter; he only called her by her first name when he wanted something. Lily debated as to whether or not she should pretend she was asleep but eventually she answered him.

"What?" She groaned, making out that she was trying to sleep, still not facing him.

"I…" James said, "Never mind…" Lily frowned; was he really not going to ask her out tonight? Lily bit her lip; it was so unlike James, he never failed to ask her every day. Had he finally given up?

"Night Evans." James said quietly, reaching over to turn off the torch.

"Wait!" Lily said suddenly, sitting up and James' heart leapt. Was he really going to hear what he had wanted to hear for the past six years?

"Don't turn off the torch." Lily blushed. James' heart sank; maybe not.

"Why not?"  
"Because…because if they go out looking for us they wont be able to see anything unless we keep the torch on." Lily said almost a little too fast. James' eyes narrowed, still trying to understand and then it clicked.

"Are you…are you scared of the dark?" James grinned.

"What? No!" Lily blushed.

"You are!"  
"I am not!"  
"Evans your face is as red as your hair!" Lily groaned and snuggled under her sleeping bag so that he could no longer see her face. It had been embarrassing enough having to explain to her roommates why she needed a little light by her bed let alone James Potter.

"Aww Evans, don't be like that!" She heard James' muffled voice say, "I think it's cute!"

Lily crawled out from under her sleeping bag and looked him straight in the eye.

"Really?" She asked, the flush still staining her cheeks pink.  
James smiled and nodded. Lily smiled back and James' heart fluttered; it was the first genuine smile Lily had ever given him. It was beautiful and James didn't want it to end.

"Ok…" He said, smiling reassuringly, "I'll keep it on if it makes you feel better."  
"Thanks." Lily smiled and rolled over again. Maybe James wasn't so bad after all.

"I knew that whole ice queen thing was just an act." She heard him grin and Lily's eyes narrowed.

_**I stand corrected…**_

_**Authors note: Ok sorry if it's not the best chapter, I needed to get it going somehow and I had severe writers block but I think it came together in the end. Let the antics begin! And once again…PLEASE REVIEW! xxxx**_


	4. Operation Reluctant

"Remus!" Ellie yelled as she skipped over the mossy rocks of the small stream, "Remus I think I s-"Suddenly her foot slipped and she stumbled. Remus threw his arms out, catching her under her arms but it was too late; Remus lost his footing and the two plunged into the shallow waters.

"I think I see the clue..." Ellie finished, giggling a little.

"Mmmm..." Remus mumbled, quickly standing up and wringing his robes dry.

"Help me up?" Ellie asked and Remus sighed and took hold of her hand. Ellie wasn't that bad really; Remus was just being stubborn. She was really quite funny and she was pretty smart too; she had figured out some of the riddles on the trail, Remus was just determined to prove Sirius wrong, even if it did mean being rather unpleasant towards her. Ellie twisted her hair between her fingers, draining the last few drops of water and made her way towards a large fir tree. Standing on her tip-toes, she pulled herself up onto the lowest branch and peered at the clue.

"What does it say?" Remus asked lazily; all he wanted to do was to go back and finish his book.

"This old one runs forever but never moves at all.

He has not lungs nor throat but still a mighty roaring call.

What is it?"

"The waterfall," Remus said almost robotically, "Easy one."

"Wow that was fast," Ellie said jumping down from the branch, "How did you get it so quickly?"  
"I waste my life reading books," Remus said, unable to control the smile that was spreading across his face, "It's not that impressive."

"If you think you waste your life reading books why don't you do something else?" Ellie said innocently.

"Because there _**is **_nothing else at the moment," Remus shrugged pulling out the map, "Reading is about as close to adventure as I'm going to get anytime soon."

"Not unless you go looking for it," Ellie grinned, causing Remus to flash her a sideward glance. Not quite knowing how to answer her, Remus focused his attention on the map instead, looking for any signs of a waterfall. As soon as he turned around Ellie dropped to her knees in defeat, miming and pointing to herself, frantically waving behind his back. Why didn't he notice her? How much more obvious could she be? She'd tried cracking a few jokes, she'd tried talking to him; she'd even tried flattering him. Could he seriously be so naive? Suddenly aware of the noise she had made as she fell to her knees, Remus whirled round and Ellie quickly grasped her laces and flashed him a grin. Remus blinked and returned to the map. Ellie let out a silent groan and trudged back over to the low branch, pulling herself up and resting her head in her hands, watching him.

"Ok well, if we go over the stream and through the trees in that direction..." Remus said, pointing towards a particularly close cluster of trees, "Then we should be able to find the waterfall."  
"Great..." Ellie said less enthusiastically; this alone time with Remus hadn't exactly been a hit. Remus rolled up the map and placed it back in his rucksack. Remus stopped for a second, still eyeing the contents of his rucksack before he slowly pulled out something that looked like a container full of pills.

"What are they for?" Ellie asked, slightly taken aback by how many there were and Remus hesitated.

"They're um...I have these behaviour problems..." He said nervously, "I have to take them at a certain time or else I...have an...'episode'. I forgot to take them this morning; you don't want to see me when I'm angry."  
"What?" Ellie said with a grin, "_**You**_ have behaviour problems? Come off it, you're the quietest person I know!"

"Well then they must be working mustn't they?" Remus smirked before he swallowed a few.

"Alrighty then..." Ellie said, shaking her head and jumping down from the branch.

"What, you don't believe me?" Remus asked.

"It's just a little hard to believe that someone so quiet and book smart could have behaviour problems..." Ellie grinned uncertainly.

"I'm not that quiet..." Remus frowned. Ellie raised her eyebrows and Remus blinked.

"Am I?"

"It's a good kind of quiet." Ellie winked before she picked up her own rucksack.

"I am not quiet," Remus sulked, "You just haven't spoken to me properly."  
"Well then let's start," Ellie said, taking advantage of the fact that she still wasn't facing him and scrunching her face up in delight.

"Ok then," Remus said, still sounding rather sulky, "What quidditch team do you support?"  
"You're into quidditch?" Ellie asked sceptically, turning to face him.

"I...well...no but I'm at least trying to make conversation," Remus said, almost blushing and Ellie laughed.

"Ok well, first off, I don't support a quidditch team; Lily's the sporty one."  
"Ok then, what do you like?"  
"Chocolate," Ellie shrugged, "My life is just chocolate." Remus grinned.

"Well...I can sort of relate to that..."  
"Really?" Ellie laughed, "But seriously...how much do you love it?"  
"I can't go through a day without it," Remus blushed.

"Finally, someone who understands!" Ellie laughed. Remus smiled and jumped across the stream; maybe he didn't have to be _**that **_unpleasant to her. Just because they got along didn't mean that they _**liked**_ each other right? Remus held out his hand and Ellie took hold of it as she jumped across after him, secretly jumping for joy that he was holding her hand for that small moment.

"What else do you like?" He asked.

The two of them walked together through the forest as they made their way towards the waterfall; suddenly not feeling as uncomfortable in each other's presence. Suddenly the sound of rushing water filled the air and McGonagall and Slughorn came into view; they had reached the end of the treasure hunt.

"Oh ho! Young Remus and Miss Phelps, very good." Slughorn said as he saw them approaching, "I knew your clever young brains were a match made in heaven!" Remus blushed. It was a good thing Sirius hadn't arrived yet; not a great choice of words.

"Oh very good, very good." McGonagall said, still looking rather stressed, "We'll just wait for-"

"Calm yourself Minerva my dear," Slughorn said as McGonagall whipped out her trusty clipboard.

"I just don't understand how they students could have got themselves all mixed up!" She said looking rather flustered and Remus' eyes widened for a moment, "My list is completely different to yours, how will we know-?"  
"Minerva, I'm sure it's just all one big mistake and the students are safe and sound," Slughorn said, "Here, take a piece of crystallised pineapple..."

Remus sat next to Slughorn on a rather mossy looking log and awaited the rest of the students, trying desperately not to look as though he might just know something about how the list got a little muddled up. Two by two the students emerged and McGonagall hastily rounded them up, checking the list for their names.

"Pineapple?" Slughorn asked but Remus shook his head. Eventually a rather ruffled looking Sirius emerged with a rather flushed looking Becky.

"McGonagall knows the list has been changed," Remus whispered when he got close enough, "Slughorn had another copy."  
"Oh well..." Sirius grinned, "I got what I wanted." Remus rolled his eyes as Becky waved to Sirius and skipped over to her gaggle of girls.

"How'd it go with _**Ellie**_?" Sirius said in an extremely suggestive way.

"Yea it was..." Remus said suddenly stopping himself; he wasn't going to give Sirius the satisfaction, "...alright."  
"Whatever." Sirius said shaking his head, "Stubborn." Remus grinned and Sirius nudged him, grinning back.

"Hey where's Prongs?" Sirius asked suddenly.

"I dunno..." Remus said, only just realizing the absence of his messy haired friend, "Lily's probably stashing his body somewhere."

"I'm counting down the seconds until they arrive arm in arm, faces stuck together." Sirius grinned.

"Don't hold your breath." Remus whispered.

"Hey...have any of you seen Lily?" Ellie asked, suddenly emerging from the crowd of students.

"No," Sirius grinned, "But I've seen Remus." Remus kicked Sirius hard in the shins and Sirius grinned uncomfortably to mask his pain.

"Great," Ellie thought, "Sirius get's it but Remus doesn't." Pretending not to have heard Sirius' comment she eagerly searched for her red-headed friend.  
"Has anyone seen Potter and Evans?" McGonagall called out to which she was answered with several howls and wolf whistles.

"I told you we-!" McGonagall yelled suddenly but Slughorn interrupted her.

"Now now Minerva, I'm sure Mr Potter and Miss Evans are fine. Lily Evans is after all one of my gifted and talented, I don't trust she'll be getting lost any time soon."

"I didn't say they were lost..." McGonagall said suddenly wide eyed, "We'll have to go and search for them!"  
"Minerva-"  
"No, no! We can't-"

"Minerva we need you here," Slughorn said, "There needs to be at least four people in charge of a group this size, you know that."  
"I'll go look for them." Ellie said suddenly.

"Well now Minerva, there's the solution!" Slughorn beamed, "Although I will suggest that-"

"I'll go!" came a voice from the crowd and everyone turned to look at Remus.

"See now I was just going to suggest that someone should go with you." Slughorn smiled.

"Oh no wait I didn't say-"Remus said suddenly, realizing with horror that he'd been set up.  
"He said he'll go." Sirius interrupted and Remus glared at him.

"Oh wonderful! See Minerva this is much b-"

"Oh I don't know-"McGonagall said uncertainly.

"Nonsense! I am sure they're both capable of such a job!" Slughorn beamed.

"But I didn't-!" Remus tried but Sirius returned the previous kick with one of his own and Remus grabbed his shin.

"I trust you both have your backpacks still?" Slughorn asked and Ellie nodded, "Righto! I think it best you go straight away; it's already starting to get rather dark..."

"Did you really have to volunteer me for-?" Remus snarled.

"Of course!" Sirius interrupted, patting him on the back, "Have fun and once again...wear protection." Remus groaned and reluctantly trudged back the way he had arrived, away from the waterfall.

"Sorry..." Ellie whispered as they left the crowd of students.

"What for?" Remus asked.

"Well I kinda did start this whole mission thing off." She blushed. Remus shrugged and smiled encouragingly, although the anger boiled away inside of him at how easy it had been for Sirius to set him up. He was going to prove him wrong; he was determined.

"I have chocolate in here somewhere," Remus grinned, indicating his backpack, "So, so far I'm doing great."


	5. The stag

Lily opened her eyes slowly, taking the strange orange light little by little. The air was far too thick and muggy; where in the name of Merlin was she? She brushed her fiery red hair out of her eyes and sat up straight, pushing the heavy sleeping bag off of her. Lily's heart sank as it finally all came flooding back. She was in a tent, an emergency tent...with James Potter. Lily turned her head to look at the space next to her and was slightly taken aback when she found it empty. Panicking slightly, she pulled open the entrance and crawled out.

Lily stepped out into the clearing. Tall fir trees surrounded the small, clear patch that they had decided to pitch their tent in, tightly packing them in. A small stream ran though the long grass, rocks of all shapes and sizes cluttering the edge. She had not remembered being in this place; perhaps it had been too dark for her to fully take in her surroundings last night.

"Potter?" She called out uncertainly, "Potter?" There was no reply; she was alone. Her heart accelerating, Lily crawled back into the tent; the backpack was gone.

_**He wouldn't...would he?**_

"Potter?"Lily called again, almost screaming this time, "If you think this is funny...if you think you can just get away with leaving me here-"

Suddenly there was a loud crack and Lily spun round, her wand raised. A stag moved into the clearing, slow and graceful, confident as if it owned the place. Suddenly the stag noticed her and it stopped, dead still. Lily's breathing calmed and she began to move her arm down slowly; it was only a stag. The stag noticed her movement and flinched, causing Lily to stop moving altogether. The stag looked at her, its ears pricked and took a cautious step towards her. Lily remained still, her arm still raised above her head; she didn't want to scare it away, it looked so beautiful. The stag grew more confident and took another step towards her. Lily took this as a good sign and lowered her arm a little, when the stag did not flinch she held out her hand to it. The stag was close now, almost in touching distance and Lily leant forward a little. Her fingertips gently stroked its head and it leaned in towards her so that her whole hand was pressed against it. Lily smiled and ran her hand down its back. The stag, now confident that she would not do it harm, took a step back and trotted over the stream, looking back for a brief moment before it bolted off into the thick of the forest.

Lily smiled, slightly mystified by her close encounter with a stag and walked over to the stream. She dunked her cupped hands into the cool water and threw it over her face. A little more awake than she had been, Lily stood and twisted her hair, threading a nearby twig through it to keep it up.

"Potter?" She tried again but still there was no reply. Lily growled and bent down to pull on her laces.

"When I get my hands on that arrogant, pig-headed little-"  
"RAAAARGH!"

Lily screamed and stumbled backwards; loosing her footing, she slipped on the wet rocks and tumbled into the stream. A laughing James Potter stood above her and Lily's blood boiled with anger.

"AHHHH! MY ANKLE!" She yelled as her foot wedged between two rocks, the pain shooting up her whole leg, "POTTER YOU IDIOT! YOU PRAT! YOU-!"

"I'm sorry!" James yelled as he threw his backpack onto the floor, his eyes wide, "Here let me-"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Lily screamed, tears of pain filling her eyes.

"Evans, I need to pull you out of-"  
"NO, DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"But Evans -!"  
"POTTER I MEAN IT!"

James shoved one of his arms under her and heaved.

"POTTER NO!" Lily screamed, "DON'T!"  
"I promise I won't hurt you..." James said softly and lifted her up into his arms, gently pulling her injured ankle out from between the rocks.

Lily flinched as it came free and James placed her tenderly on the ground.

"Let me see-"  
"No way," Lily interrupted, "Why is it that whenever I'm around you something bad happens?"

"I didn't mean to hurt you." James said timidly, "I was just going to make you jump..."

"Yea, you never mean to do anything do you Potter?" Lily said bitterly.

"It was an accident!"  
"That's not the point!" Lily yelled, "You always screw everything up!"  
"I'm sorry ok?" James yelled back, "I'm sorry..." Lily sighed and tried to move.

"No, don't do that." James said and gently took hold of her ankle.

"Potter, don't!" Lily squealed, crawling backwards.  
"Lily, I'm the Quidditch Captain," James said calmly, "I always get these sort of injuries when things don't go too well in a match. If you just let me look at it, I can tell whether it's broken or not."

"Well...don't- don't be rough," Lily said uncertainly.

"I promise I won't," James said soothingly. James took Lily's ankle in his hands and gently pressed his fingers against her skin. Lily shuddered and James paused before continuing.

"Well?" She asked.

"It's not broken," James said, gently placing her ankle back onto the ground, "But I think it's sprained." James stood once more and took her into his arms again

"What are you doing?" Lily asked, wiping the wet from her cheeks.

"You don't expect me to leave you on the ground you?" James asked, "I'm just going to put you in the tent, at least then you can put it on something." Lily nodded and hesitated before she wrapped her arms around his neck. James' heart fluttered and he held onto her a little tighter than before. Bending down he placed her onto her sleeping bag and took a pillow, placing her ankle on it.

"Don't move it for a while..." He said, trying desperately not to show how good it made him feel, knowing that she needed him.

"You're-you're not going to leave me are you?" Lily said and James' heart fluttered once more.

"Why would I leave you?" He asked.

"I can't move which means that I can't go back to the camp which means you'll probably go off and find someone and forget where you left me and I'll have to stay here alone in the tent and it will be dark and-" Lily stopped suddenly; she didn't like exposing herself to anyone let alone James. She had forgotten that she had admitted to James how much she hated the dark; it made her flush a delicate pink. James smiled, his insides now positively squirming with pleasure.

"I won't go anywhere unless you want me to Evans." He said quietly and Lily blushed slightly redder than she had before. Startled at how she had reacted to James' words she pretended to fiddle with her hair, concealed behind the flaming red curtain.

"What were you doing in the forest anyway?" Lily asked, feeling his eyes burning her face, "You didn't bring anything back..."  
"Oh, I was erm..." James said, ruffling his hair, "I was exploring."

"Did you see the stag?" She smiled.

"Yea I saw it," James grinned, "Quite friendly wasn't he? He was so close I could almost touch him."  
"I _**did**_ touch him," Lily beamed, "Quite unusual for them to be that friendly isn't it?"  
"Well he must be a special stag then," James smiled, "Are you hungry?"

"A little..." Lily said and her stomach growled in disagreement.

"Sounds like a lot more than a little," James chuckled and Lily blushed.

"Well I guess I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday..."  
"Well then," James said, opening his backpack, shoving his whole arm in his backpack and tugging at something inside, "It's a good thing these extend bags can fit a cool box."

James pulled out a large cool box and placed it on the floor of the tent.

"Full English?" He grinned. Lily nodded enthusiastically and James dragged the cool box out of the tent. Lily looked down at her swollen ankle and frowned. Rolling over onto her knees, she crawled out of the tent, careful as so not to let her ankle touch the ground.

"Do you want any help?" She called out and James whirled round.

"Evans! What do you think you're doing?" He said and lifted her up again only to plonk her back down inside the tent, "Don't move!"  
"But I don't want to be stuck inside the tent like a useless lump all day!" She whined and James shook his head.

"Sounds like you just want me to hold you again, Evans" He grinned and Lily frowned.

"Don't be a prat." She said haughtily.

James grabbed the nearest sleeping bag and pillow and dragged it outside before picking her up once more and placing her on them.

"Happy now? You can watch my immaculate cooking skills." He grinned, "Right, I'm going to find some wood and stuff for the fire. Don't move Evans, I mean it!" James backed away slowly and headed into the thick of the forest, in the same direction as the stag.

"Hey Potter?" Lily called and James turned around.

"You are coming back right?" Lily asked quietly.

"Like I said Evans, I'll never leave you," James said, turning to leave again with a small smile.

"Potter?" Lily said again and James turned to face her once more.

"...Thank you..." Lily smiled and James smiled back before turning to leave, desperately trying not to reach out and catch his heart as it fluttered away from him.

_**Authors note: Ok, so I decided that now might be the time for a little mush...not much for now but I was in the mood for mushiness :P PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! They really put me in the writing mood and make me write faster! XD**_


	6. Fondue

Remus pulled the emergency tent out of his rucksack and laid it flat on the floor.

"Limpendio!" He said and the tent erected itself. Ellie took a long stick from the ground and poked at the fire, sending sparks flying everywhere. They hadn't been able to find Lily and James, so now they were stuck in the middle of the forest at Merlin knows what time and Remus was feeling rather awkward about it. He had never had to stay alone with a girl for so long and now they had to practically sleep in the same bed. Oh what Sirius would do in his situation...

"I have just had the most brilliant idea!" Ellie beamed and she ran towards her own rucksack. Slightly taken aback by this sudden outburst, Remus didn't reply; instead he smiled awkwardly in her direction and pretended to be very busy with the tent. Ellie pulled out a very large chocolate bar and a bag of 'Honeydukes own' marshmallows from her rucksack, before she shook the packet hungrily.

"Fondue?" She asked and Remus grinned.

"I'm guessing your cravings have started too?" He chuckled.

"They never stop!" Ellie said before she ran over to the fire, "You think it would be terribly unhygienic if we washed some of these sticks in the stream and stuck them on?"  
"Camping's all about being disgusting right?" Remus smiled and Ellie dropped to her knees, looking for some suitable sticks. Remus watched in amusement as her facial expression suddenly changed from concentration to excitement as she managed to find two sticks clean enough to eat from and sharp enough to spear marshmallows.

"Be right back!" She sang as she skipped over to the stream and dunked them under the water. Remus shook his head and smiled; trust him to get stuck with the slightly deranged one. Remus bent down and rummaged through his rucksack for two bowls and walked over to the water to join Ellie.

"I blame you if I end up dying because of this," Remus smirked as he scooped up some of the water in one of the bowls.

"Ahh but it will all be worth it for chocolate," Ellie smiled, "And anyway it's not like I forced you...it would be the chocolate's fault."

"It's not the chocolate's fault that it tastes so good..." Remus shrugged.

"Ahh but the chocolate knows it tastes good and seduces you with its many forms..." Ellie said mystically. Ellie picked up the chocolate bar and waved it in Remus' face.

"Eat me Remus...you know you want to..." She said, her voice squeakier than usual, "See? Seduction of the worst kind." Remus eyed the chocolate bar before he gave her a sideways glance.

"You really are strange." He said, shaking his head.

"But it's a good strange right?" Ellie grinned.

"I haven't decided yet." Remus smirked and made his way back to the fire, shortly followed by Ellie.

"Yea well...you're quiet." She said, sticking her tongue out at him as she scuttled past him.

"I am not!" Remus said moodily, "I've been talking to you all night haven't I?"  
"Just about," Ellie smirked and pretended to ignore his look of disbelief, "Well come on, it's not as if you'd talk to me after this camping trip."

"I would..." Remus said quietly.

"But you wouldn't have if we'd never have been paired up on this trip. I bet you wouldn't have even recognised me if there was some Hogwarts reunion."  
"Well...I didn't have a reason to..."  
"Which meant that you were too quiet to make the effort," Ellie said sticking her tongue out at him, "I win."

"I am not quiet," Remus sulked, "I'm just...not that good at meeting new people that's all..."

"Remus I've been in all of your classes since we were eleven..." Ellie chuckled, "I don't think you'd class me as a 'new person.'" Remus mumbled something under his breath, breaking the chocolate up and putting it into the other bowl, before placing it on top of the bowl of water he had collected earlier. With a wave of his wand he levitated them both over the fire. Remus leant moodily against the nearest tree as Ellie tore open the packet of marshmallows and offered him one, which he took sulkily, causing Ellie to smile.

"You're even quiet when you're angry," She mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear her; she liked teasing him.

"I'm not angry," Remus spat, "You don't want to see me when I'm angry."  
"Why?" Ellie smirked,"Do you turn into something big, green and hideous?"

"Well, maybe not green." Remus said quietly.

"What?" Ellie said looking confused.

"What?" Remus said; had he said too much?

"What?"  
"What?"

"You just said..."  
"I said what?"

"Yea but before that."  
"No I meant, I said what?"

"Yea but then I said..."  
"Does it matter?" Remus said shiftily, pushing himself off of the trunk.

"Well I dunno. What exactly did you mean by, 'well, maybe not green'?"

"I didn't say that."  
"Yes you did!"  
"Well I don't remember saying it," Remus said avoiding eye contact. Ellie rolled her eyes and strolled over to check on the chocolate.

"Never mind," She sighed as she went. Remus breathed a sigh of relief; that had been too close, what if she had guessed? Ellie pulled out her wand and twirled it, causing the chocolate to stir.

"I think it's all melted," She called over and gently lowered the bowl onto the ground. Ellie held out one of the sticks and Remus awkwardly took it from her, still slightly worried that he had let on more than he should have. First the pills and the behaviour problems and now this; how much more would take before it clicked? He'd have to be extra careful. He took a marshmallow from the bag and pushed the stick through it before dunking it into the chocolate.

"Are you ok?" Ellie asked, eyeing his facial expression.

"Hmm? Oh, yea I'm fine." Remus said edgily and quickly bit off the end of the marshmallow. Ellie blinked but thought nothing more of it and dunked her marshmallow into the bow of chocolate.

"Can I ask you something?" Ellie asked nervously and Remus froze.

"Mmm?" He mumbled anxiously.

"Did Sirius put us all together?" Remus' eyes widened before he swallowed the marshmallow and bit his lip.

"Erm...Y-yea I think he did." He said, just about allowing himself to trust her.

"I thought so..." Ellie chuckled before her cheeks stained a light pink and she continued, "Why...why did he put us together?"  
Remus bent down to dunk the other half of his marshmallow into the chocolate and scrunched up his now concealed face; he had been hoping that she wouldn't ask that.

"Erm...I guess he just thought that if James was going to be with Lily he might as well put you with me...in case we decided to work together or something." He lied and bit the other half of his marshmallow.

"Oh..." Ellie said and Remus noticed the sound of disappointment.

"Why did you ask?" Remus asked innocently.

"I just found it a bit...weird that if Sirius could choose who goes with who, that he should put you with someone you don't know very well..." Ellie said slowly.

"Well that boy works in mysterious ways," Remus said and Ellie noticed the double meaning in his voice.

"Why do you say that?" She asked.

"Well apart from the fact that it is impossible to understand that boy's mind, it's just as hard in understanding the girls' mind that says yes to him. I just don't understand how he can get so many with that kind of attitude towards them."  
"What, apart from the fact that he's incredibly easy and drop dead gorgeous?" Ellie said and Remus noticed the mild bitter tone in her voice.

"What d-?"  
"Maybe he can just tell when someone likes him, maybe a girl doesn't have to be so painfully obvious when she's with him, maybe she's not the one who has to make the effort."

Remus blinked.

"Are you ok?"  
"No, I am not ok," Ellie snapped, "I'm sick of it!"

"Sick of what?"  
"Well, what if I were to tell you that I really liked someone and I've tried everything to let them know apart from just coming straight out with it and screaming it to the world?" Ellie said, whirling round to face him, her brow creased, "What if I was to tell you that that person was so frustratingly naive that even though I've tried all of that, that he still didn't know, even when his friends know everything." Remus stared at her and she stared back, seemingly hanging on the next word that was to escape his lips. What was he supposed to say? What did she want him to say?

"I-I don't know," Remus said, utterly confused; why was she telling him all of this? Didn't she just say that they hardly knew each other?

"You know what?" Ellie said, standing up, "I'm suddenly feeling _**very**_ drained and I'm going to bed." Ellie tossed her hair away from her face and yanked her rucksack up and over her shoulder.

"Oh ok," Remus said, his brow creased, "Good night."  
"Night," Ellie spat and trudged over to the tent, leaving Remus alone by the fire with a bagful of marshmallows and a bowlful of chocolate.

"Girls..." Remus thought. He would never understand them.

_**Author's note: Sorry it's taking me ages to post new chapters. EXAMS! :S I promise I'll write as soon as I can and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review; I need something to look forward to atm with all this studying! XXX**_


	7. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

"POTTER! HOW DARE YOU? PUT ME DOWN!"

"How do you expect us to get anywhere if you're stuck on the floor?"

James smirked at an outraged Lily Evans as he held her in his arms; he was enjoying this moment much more than he should have been. Lily wriggled violently in his arms.

"PUT ME DOWN NOW!"

It was typical, just typical. Just when she thought that James Potter was going to turn out alright he turned right back into a prat again. It was like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

"But Lily-petal, you were the one who wanted to get back." James said innocently.  
"POTTER I MEAN IT!"

"Now, now Evans, I am a man of my word, and I promised that I'd get you back today," James said and Lily wiggled violently once more, "Now Evans, If you don't behave there will be consequences...I'll give you until the count of three to stop."

"POTTER-!"

"One..."  
"PUT-!"

"Two..."

"ME-!"  
"Three!"  
"D-AHHH!"

James threw Lily gracefully over his shoulder and Lily screeched before pounding her fists hard on his back.

"Aww Evans...now I can't see your pretty face," James whined, ignoring her pathetic attempts at doing him harm, "I do wish you had stopped squirming."  
"Potter..." Lily said through gritted teeth, "I don't like being handled."  
"I'm being a gentleman Evans; your knight in shining armour; I'm taking you back to the camp."

"If you really were my knight in shining armour you would handle me more gently and you would do as I asked."  
"I _**did**_ handle you gently Evans, but you wriggled too much and I _**am**_ doing what you asked."

"Potter...James, please put me down," Lily said softly, trying to win him over.

"Oh _**now**_ you call me James. I see how it is Evans," James smirked, jumping a little so that Lily shifted further over his shoulder.

"Ahh-James I don't like it! Stop!" Lily squealed, clutching onto the back of James' jacket.

"Not a chance, Evans," James smirked, "I Kinda like the view from back here...although I do miss those eyes of yours."

"Urgh!" Lily said, feeling slightly violated. James strode through the forest with a wriggling and screeching Lily Evans on his back, along with the camping equipment stuffed into his expanding backpack. Eventually Lily sighed and gave up, going limp over his shoulder.

"Silence is golden," James muttered.

"What?"  
"What? I didn't say anything," James said innocently. Lily groaned and James jumped a little in response, causing her to slide over his shoulder a little more.

"Ahh! Potter don't do that!" Lily squealed, clutching onto his jacket again. James grinned and stifled a chuckle.

"Maybe if you stop calling me Potter I'll be nicer," he teased and Lily moaned. A few moments of silence passed between them as James continued to trek through the forest, his shoulder aching a little now.

"James...?" Lily said, breaking the silence.  
"Mmm?" he smiled at the sound of his name; it sounded much nicer when she said it.  
"I'm getting wet..."  
"I beg your pardon?" James chuckled and Lily thumped him around the back of his head.

"I meant that it's beginning to rain!" She said, sounding disgusted. James looked up at the sky; it was true that the blue had now been concealed with a stormy grey mask.

"It's probably just a little April shower, Evans," He shrugged.

"...In the middle of June?" Lily said sceptically, "The sky looks pretty much black over there..."

"What do you want me to do?" James sighed.

"I don't know!" Lily said, eyeing the clouds, "Shall we find shelter or something?"  
"We have a tent you know..."  
"Yea but will it be safe?"  
"It's safer than hiding under a tree."

"Well as long as it gets me down..." James gently lowered Lily down onto the carpet of leaves and twigs and removed the backpack from his back. The rain came down faster than expected, tearing down through the trees, straight onto a vulnerable Lily Evans.

"Perfect," She muttered as James hastily pulled the tent out of its bag. James eyed Lily as she sat in the pouring rain, chuckling to himself at how much she looked like a little girl having a temper tantrum. Suddenly his face softened at the beauty of the rain trickling through the curling ends of her hair, the richer red of the now sopping wet locks, the rosier lips, the contrast of her bright green eyes against the dull, grey background...

"Here..." James said quietly, wrapping his jacket around her shoulders, "At least _**try**_ and stay dry while I sort out the tent."  
"Thanks..." Lily blinked, slightly shocked at how much of a gentleman he was being all of a sudden. James flashed her a small smile and returned to the tent, waving his wand and pulling out a couple of sleeping bags. The rain, coming down fast and heavy, soaked James' already messy hair and his shirt, causing the thin material to stick to his body. Soon realising that his glasses were of no use in this weather, James removed them, his dark, chaotic hair falling into his now 'speck'-less eyes.

Lily watched James through the soaking wet strands of hair that fell into her face; he did look rather good in a wet shirt...

Wait...did she really just check out James Potter?

Alarmed by her quick and unexpected desire for James Potter, Lily quickly averted her eyes and pulled his jacket over her head, using it as a tent. He was so confusing! Sometimes he was the sweetest boy she had ever met and other times he was he biggest prat she had ever met and now...she had just found him attractive. That had never happened before. What did all of it mean? It must have just been the way the light had hit him or something...

"Tent's up," James said from outside of the jacket and suddenly she felt herself being lifted off of the floor and into his arms. Lily shuddered at the comfort of being pressed against him; it was warm in contrast to the rain. Once again, James gently lowered her onto one of the sleeping bags and Lily snuggled underneath.

"Thanks..." She smiled, hugging her knees in order to keep warm. James smiled in return and turned only to pull off his sopping wet shirt and throw it in the corner. He looked even better without the shirt...

_**What is going on with you Lily? Snap out of it; it's James Potter! The pigheaded toe rag! **_

"You better change clothes or something before you get sick..." James said and Lily blushed; had she been staring too long?

"I-I don't have anything," She stammered before quickly snapping back into reality," And do you really expect me to get changed in front of you, Potter? You really are-"

"Do you want my shirt?" James interrupted, pulling out a new one from his rucksack, "If you stay in those clothes you're going to get sick, I don't need a shirt as long as I'm not wearing the wet one. I'll go out if you want to get changed." Lily blinked, taken aback by James' reply.

"Erm...but-but what about you?"  
"I already said," James said softly, "As long as I'm not in wet clothes, I don't need a shirt." The look on Lily's face was enough reward for his small sacrifice; he liked to surprise her, so much so that he was willing to go cold and half naked to do it. Of course, it wasn't just the element of surprise that made it all worth while; as long as he kept his Lily warm and well, he didn't care.

"Oh...ok," Lily said quietly, taking the shirt from him. James turned and crawled for the entrance.

"Why the sudden gentleman Potter?" Lily asked and James turned to face her.

"What?"  
"Why...why are you being so...nice to me?" Lily blushed; she sounded pathetic.

"I'm always nice Lilykins," James grinned and he left the tent, leaving Lily staring after him, smiling to herself. Lily lifted her hair and yanked off her soaking wet shirt, throwing it into the corner with James' and threw his dry one over her head. It smelt so good; like aftershave and men's shampoo. It felt good against her skin too, warm and dry. She looked down at the shirt and chuckled before shaking her head; trust James to pack an extra Quidditch top. Lily kicked off her jeans and rolled them up into a bundle before throwing them into the corner to join her shirt.

"You can come back in now!" She called out and a wet James crawled back into the tent. James lifted his head and swallowed hard; he never thought that his own shirt could look sexy.

For there she stood, Lily Evans in his favourite, scarlet 'Westgate Winged horses' shirt, reaching halfway down her thigh, almost like a nighty in her petite height. Her now wet, fiery red hair fell in curling strands to her waist, the occasional rebel falling into her eyes. Lily wriggled back into her sleeping bag and James couldn't help but feel disgruntled that her legs were no longer visible.

"So...we're staying here until the rain stops?" Lily asked and James nodded.

"We might need to stay a little longer though, to dry off your clothes" he said, "Unless you really want to walk back into camp in an oversized 'Westgate Winged horses' shirt."

"Yea…not really," Lily grinned.

"Why? What's wrong with the 'Horses'?" James asked, pretending to be outraged and Lily threw a pillow at him, hitting him square in the face.

"You know, for a Quidditch player you're incredibly bad at ducking," She grinned, "You think you'd be hospitalized by now with all those bludger hits."

"Ha ha ha," James laughed sarcastically and threw the pillow back at her, which she caught easily much to his disappointment, "I'll have you know Evans, I'm the Quidditch captain!"

"Yea I think you told me about a hundred times a day when you first got your badge," She smirked, throwing the pillow back at him, to which this time he successfully dodged.

"Well…I knew you'd want to brag it around the school as well," He said with a smile.

"And why would I do that?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't all girls like to brag about who they're shagging?" James said with a smirk and Lily's heart sank; there he goes again, being a prat.

"Potter you really are a pig," Lily groaned, rolling her eyes.  
"What did I do now?"  
"Do really think that girls like it when guys say stuff like that?"

"It was only a joke!"  
"Yes, but you say stuff like that all the time."  
"I can't help it if I have a good sense of humor."

"No, it's just you being obnoxious."  
"Seriously Evans, what is your problem?" James said, flabbergasted.

"_**My**_ problem?" Lily said outraged.

"One minute you're perfectly normal and you can have a laugh and then in a split second you're all serious and so easily annoyed. I mean, make up your mind!"

"Excuse me? It's _**you**_ who needs to make up their mind!"

"Me?" James said, stunned.

"One minute you can be all sweet and…and lovely and then the next minute you-"  
"Wait, wait, wait…" James grinned, "You think I'm lovely?"  
"I didn't say that!"  
"Yes you did!"  
"No I didn't!" Lily blushed, "I said that you _**can**_ be…"  
"Same thing…" James said, looking smug.

"See! This is you not being sweet! This is you being a complete and utter prat!" Lily said, her blood boiling.

"Oh just admit it Evans; you've never hated me have you?" James smirked.  
"Yes I have and I'm beginning to all over again!" Lily spat.

"Well if it's all the same Evans, I think you're lovely too," James chuckled. Shaking with anger, Lily wriggled out of her sleeping bag and began to crawl towards the entrance.

"Hey!" James said, holding his arm out to stop her, "Where do you think you're going cripple?"

"Getting away from you!" She spat, pushing his arm out of the way.

"Evans, it's raining outside and your ankle is bust," James said seriously, "You can't leave."  
"Oh can't I?" Lily said, continuing to crawl towards the entrance.

"Evans don't be stupid," James said, sticking his arm out again.

"Potter just get off of me!" Lily said, pushing his arm away again, "I can hobble back to camp if I have to!"

"Lily just stop!" James said, swiveling her round and grabbing hold of her shoulders. Loosing her balance Lily fell into James' lap, her ankle twisting again. James caught her in his arms and Lily yelled out in pain.

"Ow! You idiot Potter!" She yelled, "I-I heard something click! I think it snapped!"

"You shouldn't have been so stupid!" James yelled back. He took hold of her and pulled her fully onto his lap so that she sat leaning against him, like he was cradling her.

"Don't touch it!" She squealed, slapping his hand away when he reached out for her ankle.

"I need to see if it's ok!" James said, leaning forward again only to be pulled back by Lily once more.

"Can't you see it from here...without touching it?" She asked.

"I need to feel if you've done any serious damage."  
"If _**I've**_ done it damage?"

James shook his head and leaned forward, gently feeling her ankle. Lily winced and pulled it back a few times but the look on James' face didn't seem worrying.

"I think it was just a standard click," He said eventually, "It's swollen, but there's nothing poking out that shouldn't be." He turned and smiled encouragingly at Lily but tears had already escaped her beautiful green eyes.

"Aww Evans, don't cry," James said soothingly, "I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will be able to stop it hurting as soon as we get back." He reached out and gently brushed her tears away with his fingertips as she looked up at him with her big green eyes, her head resting against his bare shoulder. Suddenly the atmosphere became thick with tension, both of them fully feeling the others body pressed against them, the warmth radiating from each other. James continued to brush the tears away, but soon the motion slowed and he twiddled a rebel strand of hair that had fallen into her eyes instead. Lily shifted in his arms, her face closer than before, her large green eyes never leaving his. She had no idea what the sensation was, but it was strong and she knew what she had to do to make it stop. James heart fluttered as he felt her hand slide up along his chest, eventually resting on the back of his neck, her face buried in his neck. His hands lowered so that they rested on her back and he pushed gently so that her body was fully pressed against his and she raised her head. James never took his eyes off hers, even more beautiful when wide and wet, something he never thought possible. Slowly he leant in and felt Lily push up against him, as eager for their lips to touch as he was. James stopped millimeters from her lips, hesitating; was he reading all the wrong signs? When she didn't push away, James' confidence grew, his lips lightly brushing against hers, causing her to shudder.

Unable to resist any longer, James pressed his lips to hers. At first the kiss was slow, hesitant, a series of small tender kisses one after the other, but they both wanted more. James coaxed open Lily's mouth and for one devastating moment, their tongues slid together.

_**He was kissing Lily Evans!**_ _**She was kissing him back!**_

Suddenly, as if loosing control of himself, James entangled his fingers into her hair, kissing her faster, with a fiery passion. He gently tugged on her wet curls, causing her to lean back a little in order for him to press soft kisses to her neck. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her closer to him, his lips returning to hers, shuddering as he felt the softness of her lips once more.

Suddenly he felt Lily's hands against his chest, softly pushing him back.

"James," She whispered, turning her head away and he pulled back, desperate for more.

"What?" He said, breathless, his head still reeling; she had eve called him James.

"I…I can't do this," She said, sadly, more tears escaping her eyes.

"What?" James said, his heart sinking, "Why not?"  
"I can't be with someone who changes so much," She said miserably, "How could it possibly work when one minute we're arguing and then the next minute we're….doing this?"  
"It doesn't have to be like that," James said, taking her hands in his, "I can change for you Lily."  
"You can't change who you are James," She said, "You can't guarantee that you won't just...loose it."

"Lily….you know how long I've been waiting to do that," James said desperately, "Please, lets just-"  
"I'm sorry," Lily said sadly. She wriggled out of his arms and snuggled into her sleeping bag, turning away from him. Unable to fully understand what had just happened, James remained in the same position, watching her as she lay there. Eventually James crawled over to his own sleeping bag and snuggled in, switching the torch off.

"James…" Lily said quietly, "Can-can you leave it on please?"  
James switched on the torch again and lay back down until eventually he couldn't take it anymore. He sat up and crawled slowly to where she lay and placed a tender kiss to her forehead.

"I love you, Lily Evans," He whispered into her ear.

_**Author's note: Ok so I decided to make this a long once since I haven't written in ages. EXAMS ARE OFFICIALLY OVER. Well I have one tomorrow but that's it so technically they're not…but I'm allowing myself this break XD I was in need of some mush…I hope you like it and PLEASE REVIEW! xxx**_


	8. The creature within

Ellie marched over to the centre of the clearing before she threw her rucksack on the floor and plonked herself down on top of it. She reached into the outside pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar just as Remus strolled past with the map stuck to his nose. Ellie watched in amusement as Remus rotated the map in his hands and strolled about the clearing trying to find the tiniest clue as to where they might be.

"Any luck?" Ellie asked with a mouthful of chocolate but Remus didn't answer. Ellie swallowed hard and tried again.

"Any luck?"

"Hmmm, what?" Remus said finally looking up from his map.

"Any luck?" Ellie sighed.

"Any...luck...?" Remus asked confused.

"As to where we are...?" Ellie said shaking her head, "That _**is**_ what you've been doing isn't it?"

"What? No!" Remus said looking aggravated, "I know exactly where we are...I'm...I'm trying to erm...find the best way to get to the key points on the map...you know...Lily and James might have decided to stay where we can find them."

"Ok then...which way to the waterfall?" Ellie smirked.

"I...uh...why do you want to know that?" Remus stammered, "They won't be there....they're lost remember?"

"No I know..." Ellie smiled, "Just for some idea about where we are."  
"I...erm...look we're wasting time," Remus said hastily, "Lily and James won't be anywhere near the waterfall."

"Well if you ask me..." Ellie said, standing up and throwing her rucksack over her shoulder, "I think we're just as lost as they are."

"Yeah well no-one _**did **_ask you did they?" Remus snapped, shoving the map in his pocket, "I don't see _**you **_coming up with any ideas. You haven't even _**touched**_ the map since we got it. 'If you ask me' I'd say you've been completely useless. "

"Wow, maybe you _**do **_have behaviour problems," Ellie huffed, her eyes narrowed, "I don't know _**what **_your problem is Remus; one minute you're a nice, sweet, quiet guy with a good sense of humour and then suddenly you turn into...into some _**monster**_!" Remus' eyes widened; she had no idea just how right she was. Suddenly Ellie's breathing became heavy and she advanced towards Remus causing him to take a step back with every step she took.

"Have you ever thought that I haven't touched the map because _**you**_ seemed to want it more?" She said angrily, "Did you ever think that maybe I was just being polite? You didn't even _**ask**_ me if I had any ideas, you just assumed that your own were better, or even still, believed that you were the only one with a brain! And as for _**useless, **_look who can't even use a map! " Remus swallowed hard as she began poking his chest with each point she made; he'd never made anyone_** this**_ angry before, but then again the others knew about his 'furry little problem' and what it made him do.

"You know what?" Ellie said suddenly, stopping in her tracks just as Remus backed into a tree, "I give up! That's it! I'm going back to the waterfall! You can find you own way back seeing as you know _**exactly**_ where we are!"

"Y-you don't know the way back..." Remus tried feebly.

"I stuck some chocolate wrappers under a couple of rocks and onto some tree branches," Ellie sighed, "Someone had to do something seeing as you had no idea where you were going."

"Y-you mean you just let me drag you everywhere even though you had a trail?" Remus asked puzzled but Ellie didn't answer, she just marched on ahead. Remus watched her leave with a confused expression painted across his face. Why would she just let him get them lost when she knew how to get back?

"Ellie wait!" Remus called after her, entering the thick of the forest and darting over a fallen log. Remus watched in amusement as Ellie bent down to pick up a chocolate wrapper pointing out from under a rock before proceeding into the forest, continuing on her trail.

"Ellie!" Remus called but she ignored him, tucking the chocolate wrapper into her pocket.

"Ellie wait..." Remus said, darting forward to grab her wrist. Ellie huffed and turned around to face him, pulling her wrist from his grasp, making her backpack slip off of her shoulders and crash to the floor, spewing the contents all over the place. Ellie sighed and dropped to her knees, picking up the stuff that had fallen out of her backpack. Remus bit his lip and knelt down opposite her, helping her clear up.

"Look I'm sorry for being such a grouch back there," Remus said quietly, " It's just that when-" Remus stopped, seeing the book that he had just picked up off of the floor.

"Th-this is the book I'm reading," He said, even more confused than ever.  
"S-so?" Ellie blushed.

"If you knew what it was about why did you ask me about it on the way here?" Remus asked, "In the carriage?"

"I...erm...well...hadn't read much of it then and wanted to know you're opinion," She lied.

"But...but you're almost finished..."

"I'm a fast reader," Ellie said hastily before she snatched it out of his hand and rammed it into her backpack. Suddenly, Remus felt a small smile spread across his lips followed by an unfamiliar warmth and Ellie's blush deepened; had she really pretended not to know anything about it_** just**_ to get his attention?

"What?" Ellie asked angelically but Remus just shook his head and his smile vanished.

"Ellie...." He hesitated, "I...my behaviour problems are a little different than what you might think..."  
"How do you mean?" Ellie asked, standing up now that her stuff was back in her backpack.

"Well...they're not constant; I have erm..._**episodes**_ around a particular time and when I get too near these episodes I get...grouchy," He explained as vaguely as possible, joining her in standing up, "I-if I just take my pills then I'm fine...I'm...I'm not always like that." A large grin spread across Ellie's face.

"What?" Remus asked.

"You mean you just ran through the forest, leapt over a log, pulled my arm out of its socket and ripped my backpack off my shoulders just to get yourself back in my good books?"

"Oh...I...erm...I felt like I erm...needed to explain myself," Remus mumbled and Ellie beamed.

"_**That's**_ more like the Remus I like," She said before blushing madly when Remus' eyebrows rose, "That is...I mean...I meant..."  
"I know," Remus smiled and Ellie hid behind a curtain of hair.

***

Lily opened her eyes slowly. The small torch was shining in the corner, the only source of light, feeble in the darkness; the rain had passed and the dream she'd had had been so strange. Lily sat up in her sleeping bag, surprised to feel the bare skin of her legs brush against the material. She looked down at her clothes to discover an oversized, scarlet, 'Westgate Winged Horses' shirt covering what was visible above the sleeping bag. Lily swallowed hard; it was James' and the events of that evening suddenly came flooding back. What had she dreamt? What was real? Did she really hear James say that he loved her?

"Ja-Potter!" She called out, taking the cautious response after what she thought were last night's antics. Lily stepped out of the tent opening, taking the torch with her, to find her clothes hanging on the branch of a nearby tree. Lily sighed and reached out to touch them; they were a little damp but it was better than walking around in James' shirt.

_**No matter how good it smells and...warm...it feels...**_

Lily shook her head; she couldn't think about that, not when it was obvious that she couldn't have the owner. It wouldn't work. How could she be with someone she spent half her time arguing with? Lily crawled back into the tent, her ankle with less feeling than usual and pulled off James' shirt before throwing on her own clothes. They were a lot dryer than they had been earlier on but there were still a few damp patches here and there, making Lily miss the warmth of James' shirt. Lily crawled out of the tent again with the torch in her mouth and limped over to the small stream that ran throughout the forest. With no lights around but the torch, the moon was much brighter than usual, a ghostly orb casting glittering silver rays onto the water before her. Its eeriness made her shudder as she clutched her torch tighter; she hated the dark. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes and Lily hid behind the trunk of a large tree, fumbling around for her wand. A large stag galloped through the trees over to the stream, drinking deeply as Lily peered around the edge; it was the same stag as before. Lily's heart softened at the sight of it; it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen with its elegant frame, it was almost hypnotic. It was gentle, beautiful and powerful all at the same time, something not many things can claim to be. Lily found herself creeping towards it with her hand outstretched, pocketing her wand, eager to touch it.

_**I wonder if it will recognise me...**_

Just as she reached out her hand to touch its back, her fingers brushed against warm, human skin and a half naked James Potter stood before her. He whirled around to face her and Lily took several hurried steps back.

"W-what?" Lily asked bewildered as she slipped on the wet rocks. This time James lurched forward to catch her, the bottoms of his jeans now soaking wet as pulled her up so that she was pressed firmly against his bare chest.

"Lily! W-what are you...? I thought you were..." James stammered but she had already seen too much.

"_**You**_ were the stag?" Lily said, her eyes wide, "But- but how?"

"I-we..."  
"_**We**_?" Lily asked, "Who _**else**_ is an illegal animagus?"

"I...we have a good reason but I just can't tell you," James said hurriedly.

"Do you realise how much trouble you could get into?" Lily yelled, "This isn't just _**fun**_ Potter, this is against the law!"  
"We have a good reason!" James insisted, his eyes wide with worry.

"See this is why we can't be together James!" Lily said, blushing when she realized that she was confessing that she wanted him even if she couldn't have him; _**vulnerable**_, "How can you possibly think that it'll work when you're doing stuff like this?"

"I have a good reason for it!" James said, holding her tighter, "I just can't tell you!"  
"Why not?"  
"I promised...I promised a friend I wouldn't," James said, biting his lip. He knew it sounded crazy to her, stupid even, but he couldn't tell Lily why he and Sirius had become underage animagus' without exposing Remus' 'furry little problem' and he couldn't do that no matter how much he wanted to. Lily looked at James, seeing the panic in his eyes. What was he hiding? It had to be something to do with Remus or Black; James would rather die than be disloyal to his best friends.

"Lily, you _**know **_I've always dreamed of becoming an Auror," James said, breaking the silence, "I'd never do anything that would stop me from fulfilling that dream unless it was _**really**_ important. I'm not doing it just for a laugh or...to show off or anything...this is serious." Lily stared back at him without a word, staring straight into those penetrating hazel eyes, her green trying to be equally as penetrating in an attempt to decode the truth.

_**It makes sense really...James Potter being the most beautiful thing I've ever seen...**_

_**Lily! Stop it!**_

"You really are an idiot Potter," Lily frowned, pushing off of his bare chest, tingling with the warmth of his skin.

"Lily," James said, the panic still in his eyes, "I know we've had our fights and everything but you wouldn't...you won't tell anyone will you?" Lily didn't know what hurt the most, having to put all of her weight on her ankle to keep her balance or the fact that James Potter didn't trust her.

"What? You think I'd actually tell someone? Do you think I want to see you in Azkaban or...or whatever it is that they do with underage wizards?" Lily said the anger and hurt boiling away inside of her.

"No! No that's not what I-!"  
"Well I should bloody well hope not Potter!" Lily said storming back towards the tent, ignoring the pain in her ankle, "This is exactly why we'd never wo-!" Before Lily could finish, James grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.

"Get off me Potter!" Lily yelled struggling against him but with another quick pull she was pressed against his chest again, "Why can't you just leave me alone?"  
"You know why Lily," James said, his eyes smouldering. Lily's heart thundered away in her chest; she liked it when he looked at her like that, she liked it a _**lot**_. James' hands lowered to her waist and he pressed her even tighter to him. Within an instant all the anger that had built up inside of her vanished without a trace.

"My ankle...hurts..." Lily mumbled subconsciously. James smiled and lifted her off of the ground so that she had to wrap her legs around him to keep herself up.

"Better?" He asked his voice still full of lust. Lily nodded; for some reason she couldn't bring herself to speak. She liked being up there; her eyes were level with his as she was held tightly in his grasp. It made her feel good being completely wrapped around is torso, a guilty pleasure, feeling the body heat radiate off of him....especially when his chest was bare. Much to her disappointment, James' eyes left hers and re-focussed on her lips. Her heart accelerated when he leaned in and her lips parted a little, ready for him...

"Put me down..." Lily breathed.

"W-what?" James asked, snapping out of his trace.

"I said put me down Potter," Lily said, her voice stronger this time. She was going to hate herself for doing it but she wouldn't allow herself to just give in like that. If she was going to be with James, she wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to get hurt by the end of it. It was all going too fast for her to make any assumptions. When James didn't respond Lily made her legs go limp and tried to wiggle out of his arms.

"Why are you doing this?" James said, his eyes trying to make contact with her but she was too afraid that she'd give in if she did, "You wanted this...you kissed me back-"

"Oh don't be so whiny Potter," Lily said, sliding off of him, "Did you expect it to be that easy? That I'd just fall into your arms after all these years? Knowing you you'd just shag me, get bored of me, ditch me and tell everyone how pathetic I am before you go on to claim your love to some other idiot. You're _**Mr Popular James Potter**_, you can have anyone you want and what you choose me? Do you have a bet with Black or something? Is that why you keep coming back? Well you can go tell 'the guys' that you totally snogged Lily Evans now can't you? You got what you wanted, are you going to leave me now? How do you ever expect me to want you with a past like ours? I just don't understand you; you change so much. How am I supposed to know whether you mean these things? I'm not going to just hand myself over to someone so...so complicated and bigheaded." She regretted it instantly when she saw the look on James' face; it looked as though she might as well have torn his heart out and stamped all over it.

"How can you say that to me when you know that I'm completely in love with you?" James said quietly, so quietly that it was almost a whisper. Lily froze, her heart accelerating more than ever.

"I...I thought..." She began but she couldn't find the words she was looking for, "D-do you mean that?" James nodded, his eyes focused on hers...

_**Penetrating...**_

Neither of them moved; all they could do was stare at each other in silence. Eventually James stepped forward, threading his fingers through hers, bending down to press soft kisses to her neck, making Lily shudder.

"Do you love _**me**_?" James whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her skin.

"I..." Lily began but James had resumed kissing her neck and she lost track of all of her thoughts, concentrating solely on the feel of his lips.

"I promise I will never, ever do anything to hurt you Lily," he whispered against her neck, "I've wanted this for a very,_** very**_ long time..."

"I...I know..." Lily stammered back, chewing on her bottom lip as James' lips explored her throat and jaw line. Suddenly, from somewhere deep in the forest, there was a loud, beastly snarl, rolling through the trees like angry thunder and James and Lily pulled apart, staring wide eyed in the direction of the growl.


	9. The Ugly Truth

Remus walked beside Ellie as they continued on the trail back to the waterfall in order to start again from somewhere recognisable. For some reason, knowing that Ellie had bluffed from the very beginning just to get his attention had thrown her into a completely different light; he desperately wanted to talk to her but couldn't find anything remotely interesting or impressive to say. Ellie stopped in her tracks, pulling an impaled chocolate wrapper off of a low branch and shoving it into her pocket just as her voice entered Remus' head.

_**What if I were to tell you that I really liked someone and I've tried everything to let them know apart from just coming straight out with it and screaming it to the world? **_

Remus swallowed hard; if Sirius had been right about that, what else could he see that Remus couldn't?

_**What if I was to tell you that that person was so frustratingly naive that even though I've tried all of that, that he still didn't know, even when his friends know everything?**_

How could he have been so stupid? Of course she liked him! James and Sirius had even tried to point it out to him. How many other people had seen it?

"Ellie?" Remus said suddenly full of courage.

"Mmm?" She said, turning round to face him and all of a sudden Remus couldn't speak. It was as if he'd been cursed; his mind had gone blank and his mouth had gone dry. If he didn't say something soon she was going to think he was a complete idiot!

"H-howmuhfurahr?" He mumbled.

"What?" Ellie giggled, "I didn't get that at all."

"H-how much further?" Remus blushed; so much for not sounding like an idiot.

"I'm not sure to be honest," Ellie said, pulling a face in concentration before her mouth spread into a wide grin, "I lost track of the number of chocolate bars I ate...and how much I brought with me." Remus tried to laugh but all he could muster was a small smile and what sounded like a whimper.

"Are you ok?" Ellie asked, giggling a little at his response. What was he going to say?

_**No actually, because it's just dawned on me that I'm stupidly naive.**_

_**No, I finally heard your silent 'screams to the world'. **_

_**No, I have no idea how to deal with this.**_

_**No because I feel...weird...**_

"Yeah I'm fine," Remus said, trying to sound cheerful. It seemed to work because Ellie carried on walking after that. It was getting dark now; if they didn't find Lily and James tonight they would have to spend their second night alone in the forest. Remus didn't know which night would be more awkward; last night because he had been put with her against his will or tonight because...he might just like her.

With that Remus felt a sickening lurch in his stomach; he had never liked anyone before, he had always been too busy stuck in a book to notice a girl _**that**_ much. He was completely inexperienced with this sort of stuff, what was he supposed to do? He didn't even know if he really _**did**_ like her. He'd heard all kinds of crazy stuff that love was supposed to make you feel; at the moment it felt as though his insides were tied in a knot, an invisible string pulling at them every now and again. Every time she looked at him, he felt his face flush. Every time she spoke to him his mouth went dry. Is that how liking someone was supposed to feel?

"Remus I think we're going to have to stop here..."Ellie said eventually, "I can't even see the wrappers anymore." There was another sickening lurch in Remus' stomach as she said this, so strong he felt the urge to wrap his arms around himself.

"O-ok..." He said quietly and Ellie turned to face him.

"Remus, are you sure you're ok?" She asked looking concerned, "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine," Remus said. Was he being too obvious? Ellie didn't look too convinced but she opened her rucksack anyway and erected the tent with a wave of her wand.

"Food?" She asked with a smile and Remus nodded just to be polite. How could he possibly eat right now when he was feeling like this?

"Right, I'll just go get some wood," Ellie said with a smile before she danced off into the woods on her small quest. Remus crawled into the tent, finally alone, and hugged his knees to his chest, resting his head on them. What was he going to do? He never in a million years thought that he'd need Sirius' help to bail him out of trouble. In all honesty, girls were the _**only **_thing Sirius could help anyone on. How stupidly ironic it was that Sirius had been trying to set him up for years and the one time Remus would genuinely accept his help, he was stuck, alone in a forest, possibly miles away from him. Remus groaned and rested his forehead on his knees; he felt awful, was this seriously all because of his nerves? Suddenly, the wave of courage that had descended on him earlier came flooding back and Remus crawled out of the tent. With a deep breath, Remus strolled into the forest after Ellie, running through all the things he could possibly say to her in his head. He was concentrating so hard that he actually rammed into her when he turned the corner, causing her to spill her armfuls of wood all over the floor.

"Sorry!" Remus blushed, kneeling down to pick it all up.

"What are you in such a rush for?" Ellie laughed, kneeling down to help him.

"Nothing, I Just-I mean-I need to talk to you," Remus said, his words spilling out of his mouth.

"Why, is the tent on fire?" Ellie joked, "Did you eat all my chocolate while I was gone?"

"No...Well..." Remus grinned, trying to play along and Ellie smiled. Remus took the wood from her and held it in his own arms.

"Ellie..." Remus began; how could he start it off? He couldn't just blurt it out.

"W-why did you lie about not knowing what the book was about?"  
"I-I told you," Ellie blushed, "I hadn't read much of it and wanted to know your opinion."  
"Ellie, you've almost finished it."  
"I read fast..."  
"You've been with me the whole time; you couldn't have read all of that."

"Well I..." Ellie began but she bit her lip when she couldn't finish.

"Do...do you want to know the real reason Sirius put us together?" Remus said trying to fill the sudden silence, "He...he said that you _**obviously**_ liked me; he was trying to set us up." Ellie laughed and put her face in her hands.

_**What does that mean?**_

Was he completely wrong? Did she like him after all? Ellie sighed although she did not look up at him.

"Wellhewarigh..."She mumbled trying to shrug it off.

"What?" Remus asked, desperate for some form of confirmation.

"Oh...he was right!" Ellie said, her face redder than ever, "But you couldn't blame me for trying so hard! You never noticed anything I did! I thought sitting next to you was the perfect opportunity to start a conversation with you but you didn't even look at me." Ellie folded her arms and looked away, pouting slightly, causing Remus to smile a little.

"It's...it's a shame that I only realised that earlier today," He said feebly.

"I think you started my addiction to chocolate to be honest," Ellie said, "Do you know how draining it was trying to get you to speak to me? No wonder I need so much sugar."

"Sorry..." Remus chuckled, "At least...at least it worked..."  
"No, _**Sirius'**_ plan worked," Ellie corrected, "I'm as much a pawn as you are."

"Mmm...but...who knew a plan of Sirius' would work so well..." Remus said, trying to make it subtle.  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well..." Remus blushed, "I...I think I might just..." A little too shy to finish off his sentence, Remus shot Ellie cheesy grin instead.

"Oh...r -really?" Ellie giggled, her eyes focused on the floor, "Wow..." The two of them stood in silence, blushing when their eyes met every once in a while when they weren't focused on the floor, the occasional giggle escaping their lips.

_**Should I do something?**_

Remus bit his lip and took a step closer. To his surprise Ellie did the same. Remus swallowed hard; he was really inexperienced in this area...what if he messed up? What if he froze and he didn't know what to do? Nevertheless, Ellie leant in and Remus followed, still clutching the wood to him as if his life depended on it. Ellie gently bumped into them and lost her focus, giggling slightly.

"Erm...perhaps you should put those down..." She said innocently and Remus let them fall gently to the floor without another word. His heart raced in his chest as she took his wrists, pulling him to her. She was much prettier than he remembered her being in the carriage or on the trail. Her hair was fair and cascaded in long waves to her waist and her eyes were a deep, dark, chocolaty brown. Being this close he could see tiny freckles scattered across her pale cheeks and nose and her lips were of the palest of pinks.

"I-I'm sorry if I'm not any good," Remus blushed before his lips had the chance to brush hers, "I-I've never done this properly before."  
"I don't care," Ellie smiled, "I like the fact that you're so cute and clueless..."  
"I-is that supposed to be a compliment or something?" Remus laughed.

"Well...it wasn't an insult anyway," Ellie smiled and before he could say anything, she gently pressed her lips to his.

"Ahh!" Remus said suddenly, pushing away from her and clutching his side.  
"Remus?" Ellie asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. This was definitely not nerves. Hurriedly Remus pulled his rucksack towards him and searched frantically for the bottle of capsules but he couldn't find them.

"Oh no..." Remus whimpered as he searched his jean pockets.

"What's wrong?" Ellie asked.

"I've lost them!"  
"Lost what?"  
"My pills! My pills!" Remus panicked, but how could she understand when he hadn't told her about his furry not-so-little-any-more problem? To Remus' horror, the clouds began to part and shimmering silver light shone through the cracks; a glowing, pearly white orb had begun to emerge from the sky's dark and wispy skin. It was a full moon. That's why he felt so terrible!

"Ellie!" Remus yelled and Ellie gasped.

"Remus...y-your eyes are yellow!" She said, throwing her hands over her mouth.

"Ellie you have to get as far away from me as you can!" Remus yelled; speaking was becoming difficult due to the fangs that were growing rapidly, "Shoot a red light into the sky with your wand, the teachers will know what it means!"

"I...what's happening to you?" Ellie yelled, her breathing rapid.

"Look don't worry about me! I'll be fine, I always am, it's you I'm worried about!"  
"But-!"

"Ellie I could kill you if you don't get as far away as you should! Go now!" Without another word, Ellie whipped her wand out of her robes and ran into the forest just as a terrifying, beastly snarl ran through the trees after her. An invisible monster born on the lips of another.

Authors note: ok I KNOW I said I wouldn't make you wait that long until I posted another but my laptop broke just before I went on holiday where I actually had WIFI access to tease me with NO COMPUTER But anyway, here you go! I hope you like it and I PROMISE I won't make you wait another 2-3 weeks for an update xxx


	10. Realisation

Lily and James remained frozen on the fringe of the fir trees that surrounded them, too afraid to move in case whatever had growled could sense them. After a few moments of silence, Lily finally plucked up the courage to speak.

"W-what do you think it was?" She asked.

"This is a popular place for muggles too right?" James asked his eyes troubled.

"Why? You think it could be something from the wizarding world?"

James hesitated; it might not have been what he thought it was, and he didn't want to mention Remus when it might have had nothing to do with him at all.

"Well...have you ever heard anything like _**that **_in the muggle world before?" He asked. Lily shook her head, her heart accelerating fast.

"We should get out of here," She whispered and began backing away from the trees.

"I..." James began. What if it _**was**_ Remus? He couldn't just leave him wondering round the forest fully transformed. He could have been with someone; after all they were bound to have sent someone out to find him and Lily.

"You...what?" Lily asked, shocked that he was even hesitating, "You're not going to go looking for it are you?"

"I...Lily," James said, stepping forwards and grabbing her shoulders, "Forget about this stuff, don't start packing it up, just get as far away from the noise as possible and shoot a flare into the air with your wand; the spell's called lumos maxima. The teachers will come and find you."  
"What?" Lily asked outraged, "Why didn't we do that before?"  
"Because it's only for emergencies!"  
"Getting lost is an emergency!"  
"Not one like this!"

Lily stopped and stared at him, suddenly aware of the vice-like grip James had on her shoulders. She could see the panic in his eyes, hear his heavy breathing; he knew what that thing was.

"James, you're scaring me," Lily whispered and James' face softened. He didn't want to scare her, he didn't want to send her into panic, let her know anything was wrong; he wanted to protect her.

"What is it?" Lily asked her voice softer than ever, "Tell me what it is."

"I...I don't know what it is," James said just as quietly.

"But you have an idea," Lily said; it wasn't a question.

"Maybe," James answered, his eyes lowered, "I just can't tell you."  
"Why?"  
"I promised."  
"James our lives could be-!"  
"I know!" James interrupted, "But it would be more than just _**our**_ lives destroyed if I say anything." Lily didn't even try to pretend that she understood why he was doing it, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was torn by his decision and she didn't want to do any more damage by asking further questions. Instead Lily nodded and pushed away from him.

"I'm not going to run James," She said, trying to hide her fear, "I'm not going to just let you go gallivanting off into the depths of a forest in the middle of the night after a monster!"  
"Lily, please, let's not do this," James said pleadingly, "You don't know what you're in for-"  
"Neither do you!"  
"Well...I think I do..."  
"James what if you get into trouble? You're going to need someone to protect you!"  
"I know but...Lily did you just say that you want to protect me?" James grinned.

"Well...I don't want to live the rest of my life thinking that your mauling could have been prevented if I stayed with you," Lily said stubbornly, "Anyway...it's quite dark and I don't want to go off alone..."

"So...you'd be sad if I died?" James asked completely ignoring her second reason.

"Of course I would be!" Lily blushed, "I'm not heartless."  
"Would you cry for me Lily?"  
"I...yes." Lily said reluctantly.  
"Would you say something at my funeral?"  
"There's not going to be a funeral!"  
"But would you?"  
"James this is ridiculous!"  
"But would-?"  
"Yes! Yes ok? I would. Yes!" Lily yelled looking flustered, "And before you ask, yes it would be something nice and I'd make it sound like you were the most wonderful person in the world even if you are a pig headed, big mouthed, idiotic-" but she was cut short by the howl so loud that it sent more than a dozen nesting birds into a frantic flight. Lily threw her hands over her mouth and backed away before she shot a glance at James who, in this moment in time, had turned completely white, his eyes wide in terror.

"Lily..." He said quietly, "I most definitely know what that thing is."

***

Ellie ran as fast as she could, dodging as many low branches and tree roots as possible. What in the name of Merlin had happened back there? It was all such a blur. So she finally gets to kiss Remus after all that time, and as soon as she does, he turns into a werewolf!?

_**That's it! I'm officially cursed! I'm going to become a crazy, frizzy haired lady, who collects cats of all shapes, colours and sizes out of sheer loneliness! **_

Suddenly Ellie felt a tree root curl around her foot and she fell flat on the carpet of leaves and twigs beneath her.

"Ow!" She yelled, feeling her bottom lip burst, releasing a heavy flow of blood. Quickly, she raised a cupped hand to her mouth, trying to stop it from dribbling all over her chin.

"Urgh!" She groaned, spitting the blood from her mouth and dusting herself off. Suddenly there was a loud, ear splitting, howl and Ellie's eyes widened. Werewolves...what had she learnt about werewolves again? She knew that Remus wouldn't be able to recognise her if she was unfortunate to see him again tonight, but she couldn't remember anything else. What had the professor said about blood? Ellie knew there was a limit to the scent but she couldn't remember the exact figure, all she knew was that she had to get away from here and fast if she wanted to be alive tomorrow morning. She hurriedly carried on her way, hastily wiping the blood from her lip on the sleeve of her robes as she did.

_**How the hell am I supposed to know where to shoot this flare?**_

Ellie had no idea how close Remus was; how was she supposed to tell when it was safe to do it?

_**Oh no my wand!**_

Ellie gasped and fumbled her robes; she had dropped her wand when she tripped over that root! How was she supposed to get help without her wand? Gingerly, she turned her body to face the direction she had come from, unsure whether to return without knowing exactly where Remus was. It was dangerous she knew that; werewolves were fast and vicious. Remus could pounce on her at any time; he could be anywhere by now and if she went back he could catch up, or even worse, catch _**her**_. No matter how stupid or dangerous it felt to go back, Ellie knew she had to; Remus needed help and without it he could kill her...but then again he could kill her before she even had a chance to get it. Shaking the dreaded thought from her mind, Ellie turned back and ran into the unknown. She fell to the ground at the familiar curling tree roots, grabbing handfuls of dry leaves and twigs frantically in the hope of unveiling her wand.

"Oh come on; please don't run away from me now!" She pleaded to her invisible wand but it would not reveal itself to her. Suddenly Ellie felt something heavy ram into her and she rolled violently, slamming into a tree. She tried to scramble to her feet but she was hit again, this time with the feeling of three razor sharp knives diving deep into her side. Ellie screamed and wrapped her arms around her. Panting heavily she lay still for a while, curled up tight, hoping that whatever it was would think that she was useless, dead, but she knew exactly what, or who it was. Her body shook to hear the sound of gruff and heavy growling circling her like a beast circles its prey. Ellie whimpered when she felt its breath against the back of her neck, hot through her hair. A heavy paw batted at her fragile body again and she let her body take its natural course, trying to play dead as convincingly as possible. Unfortunately Ellie's body was far too delicate and her arm snapped beneath her. She screamed out in pain, completely destroying the illusion and the beast howled. That was it; she was done for. She whimpered as she heard the heavy footsteps bound towards her but, suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light and the beast yelped in pain.

"Ellie?" She heard, "Ellie are you alright? Ellie! Ellie!" but she could not answer for her vision was blurred and her hearing was muffled. Instead she peeled her hand from her side and looked down at her palm, glistening crimson and thickly covered. Finally, Ellie's world went black.

***

"I just don't get it!" Lily yelled to James as they ran through the trees hurriedly, "Why would there be a...a werewolf in the muggle world? No-one's ever been reported missing or...or dead in these forests, why would it decide to turn up now?"

"I don't know," James lied. In truth, James was just as confused as she was. Remus had his medication, why didn't he take it?

"Do you think there's a pack of them?" Lily panicked, "James what if there's a pack-?"  
"There won't be," James said without thinking.

"How do you know?"

"I...It's just a feeling."  
"A feeling?" Lily asked dumbfounded, "And a _**feeling's**_ good enough is it?"

"Lily, just trust me on this one," James said, removing his wand from his robes, never pausing to stop. Upon seeing this, Lily clutched her own wand tighter; she didn't like seeing cocky James Potter so frantic; it unnerved her.

Suddenly there was an ear-splitting scream and they both stopped running.

"Oh no..." James whispered and Lily darted forward.

"LILY!" James yelled, suddenly pelting after her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back, slightly winded as she rammed into his chest.

"That's Ellie!" Lily yelled a look of sheer panic and terror in her eyes, "That's Ellie! I know that's Ellie! The werewolf has Ellie!"

"Lily you can't just go running after her!" James yelled, "The werewolf could kill you if you act like an idiot; you have to be tactful!"  
"Tactful! Tactful? Me an idiot? My best friend could be dead by now because you've held me back! Who are you calling-?"  
"And _**you**_ could be dead by now if I hadn't!" Suddenly there was a loud crash and a young tree shook frantically with the impact of whatever had hit it followed by another loud scream.

"Over there!" Lily said in a strangled whisper, "She's over there!" Following instinct, James pushed Lily back and ran in the direction of the scream, darting past the young tree and in front of a small figure quivering and slightly mangled in the shadows.

"Incendio!" James bellowed creating a wall of fire between himself and the oncoming werewolf. Remus ran forward but panicked at the last minute, scorching his paws and releasing a loud yelp.

"Sorry Remus," James muttered under his breath and watched as his transfigured friend disappeared into the safety of the trees.

"Lumos maxima!" James yelled, shooting a flare into the sky; all that was left to do now was wait.

"Ellie?" James heard Lily screech, "Ellie are you alright? Ellie! Ellie!" James swallowed hard; Remus couldn't have killed her...could he?

"Ellie! Oh god, look at your hand! No put your hand back, it will slow the bleeding! Ellie?" Lily panicked as her friend suddenly went limp, "James she's fainted!" James rushed over and knelt at Ellie's side, lifting her wrist to view her bloodied hand.

"Oh Merlin that's not good..." James whispered.

"Ferula!" Lily yelled and a ribbon of bandages spurted from the tip of her wand.

"What was she doing alone in the forest?" Lily shrieked, lifting Ellie's top a little so as to wrap the bandages around her side, "How can the teachers be so stupid? James, can you lift her up?"

"They didn't leave her alone..." James said quietly, taking hold of Ellie from under the arms and hoisting her up.

"What? James she was alone in the forest with a werewolf!" Lily said, hurriedly wrapping the bandage around Ellie's waist, "If she wasn't alone then where's the other..." but Lily stopped, suddenly understanding.

"Who was it?" Lily asked shocked, "Who was she with?"

"I...Remus..." he said quietly and Lily gasped as James lowered Ellie to the floor.

_**Now she understood. **_

"Do the teachers know?" Lily asked.

"Of course they know!"  
"Then why did they send him out into the forest, in the full moon, with another student, looking for us?"  
"He had medication; he shouldn't have turned into a werewolf."  
"Well then why did he?"  
"I don't know!"

Lily bit her lip and wiped the blood from Ellie's hand with her robe.

"Lily...you won't tell anyone will you?" James as anxiously.  
"I...of course not," Lily said quietly.

"I need you to convince Ellie to do the same," James said timidly, "I know she doesn't know Remus as well as you do but if this gets out-"  
"She won't tell," Lily said and James blinked.

"How do you know?"  
"Because she li...she's not like that," Lily said, saving what could have been too much information. James didn't question further, instead his focus was beyond the wall of flames to where Remus had disappeared.

"Why did you tell me in the end?" Lily asked, stroking the hair from Ellie's face and James turned to look at her.

"Ellie obviously saw him transform," James explained, "I don't really know her that well. She'd be more likely to listen to you when it came to keeping her quiet about it."

"How long have you known?" Lily asked.

"Years..."James said quietly, "We might have been twelve."  
"And you kept his secret right until the very end," Lily smiled. That was one of the many things she liked about James Potter; he was loyal, he'd die for his friends. He was sweet and funny and caring...he was hot too...

_**Shut up Lily, this is not the time...**_

"I hope he's ok..." James said quietly, his eyes glued to the spot where he had last seen his dangerous friend.

"He will be..." Lily said wistfully, still eyeing James when he was not looking.

Eventually, Professor McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey arrived at the scene, levitating an injured and unconscious Ellie back to camp. Remus was left to roam the forest, the professors creating a tamed circle of fire so as Remus could not roam any further until he transformed back into his human shape. James, however, still worried about his friend, glancing over his shoulder in the hope of seeing him one last time just for reassurance before he went back to camp, whilst a somewhat newly infatuated Lily Evans could not keep her eyes off of him and wished just for a moment that she was back in the tent with his shirtless double...the torch still on of course.

Authors note: Ahh we are nearing the end! I hope you like this chapter  Good luck to all those finding out their GCSE results tomorrow like me:S and those who still have to wait to find out theirs! Oh and as always...PLEASE REVIEW! Xxx


	11. He loves me, He love me not

The sudden disappearance of Remus Lupin and Ellie Phelps has sparked a great deal of excitable conversation between the Seventh years in the morning, so much so that news of Lily and James being left alone together for two days straight had been forgotten, much to the annoyance of Lily herself. Normally she would have despised this sort of gossip and told those spreading it where to stick it, but now that the gossip had changed topic, she realised that it was exactly that sort of thing that sparked the subtle flame between herself and any rate it had always got them talking, something which hadn't happened since the previous night.

_**He's probably just too worried about Remus...**_

Lily sighed with her head in her hand and poked at the bacon sizzling on the camping stove before her with her plastic fork. She wanted more than anything to go and talk to James, to discuss everything that had happened over the past couple of nights...especially the rainy ones, but she felt as though it would be too insensitive. Neither herself nor James were able to get in contact with Madame Pomfrey to discuss the current condition of their friends although she had confirmed to Lily on the night of the attack that Ellie would be able to make a full recovery; she had not been bitten and would therefore not be affected by Remus' actions, James on the other hand had not received such comfort from the school nurse as Remus had not yet returned to his original form at that time. Suddenly deciding that she wasn't hungry after all, Lily zipped what had been hers and Ellie's tent back up, turned the stove off and pushed it to the side before deciding to go for a stroll in the forest to clear her head. She pulled her robes tighter around her, keeping her head down as she passed through the camp in an attempt to ignore all of her fellow seventh years desperately trying to figure out what happened to Ellie and Remus.

"Lily, what happened to Ellie?"  
"Lily where's your camper buddy?"  
"Hey Lily, what happened to Ellie and Remus?"  
"Lily, did Remus and Ellie find you and James or are they missing now too?"

_**Great another ambush...**_

"Listen!" Lily said angrily, "I don't know what happened, you're just going to have to ask the teachers ok?"  
"But you were there!" Cried one of the Ravenclaws.  
"Well...yes, but I only saw her _**after**_ she was hurt."  
"She was hurt?" Asked one of the Hufflepuffs.  
"Ok, look, there was an accident, I don't know what happened, she err...probably fell or something. I just don't know....ask the teachers." And with that Lily pushed through the small crowd of gossipers, into the sanctuary of the trees. Lily sighed and ran her fingers through her messy red hair, fumbling around in her pocket for a hair band, tying her hair back into a scruffy ponytail when she found one.

"...fine James; he always is, and Ellie wouldn't squeal."

"How do you know? What if she's been traumatized? You didn't see her Sirius."  
"James she's crushing big time on Remus...she wouldn't want to ruin her chances."  
"Really? You think the fact that he's a werewolf and nearly killed her yesterday wouldn't have put her off?"  
"It didn't put us off did it?"  
"Yes but we know Remus a lot more than she does."

"Well put it this way, would you go off Lily if you found out that she was a werewolf?"  
"I...look that's different." Lily's eyes widened and she hurriedly hid behind the thick trunk of a large oak tree in order to get as close to the sound of Sirius and James as possible without being seen.

"Oh yeah? How do you know? She could be as crazy about Remus as you are about-"

"I'm not!" James said suddenly.

"You're not...what?" Sirius asked puzzled.

"I'm not...not sure that....I mean me and Lily...it's not really..." Lily's eyes widened.

"Prongs mate, are you saying that you don't fancy Lily anymore?"  
"I...oh of course I do!" James whined, "But I'm thinking that maybe...maybe I should give up..." There was a pause and Lily's heart accelerated; clearly Sirius was just as stunned as she was.

"What exactly happened between you two in the forest before Remus' furry little problem got in the way, James?" Sirius asked and Lily heard James take in a deep breath.

"Well I...I told her that I...that I lo-oh I was being a prat as usual and I said something that I shouldn't have and she basically told me that I should just...forget about it." Lily closed her eyes and released a quiet sigh.

_**Why didn't you just let him kiss you last night Lily? Why did you have to go and make everything complicated?**_

Oh she knew why; she had been scared, petrified of the fact that she might actually have started fancying James Potter, of all people! It was true that she had always found him good looking although it hadn't really occurred to her until she found herself staring at him over the past couple of nights.

_**...at the most inappropriate times none the less...**_

Had she'd always done that? It had taken her by surprise when she found herself ogling at his bare chest, swooning when he did that stupid hair thing. It hadn't helped when he had suddenly transformed into a gentleman overnight...like Remus had a werewolf. She had become so used to the annoying, bullying pest that had been James Potter that she had been blinded to what he was now...and even to what he had always been; the real James Potter.

_**Well...beneath the toe rag he once was...**_

How could she have said that she couldn't gamble her heart on him when it was clear that he'd been doing that himself since they had been 11 years old? The only difference was that he had the courage to admit his affections for her, to risk it when she hadn't. It was official; for the first time, since the very beginning, she was regretting not having said yes to James Potter. It would all be ok though when she told him that she regretted it, that she really did want him after all these years...wouldn't it?

"Yeah but...surely two nights wouldn't have ruined what's almost 7 years mate...?" Sirius asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.  
"Well...that's just it isn't it, Padfoot? It hasn't been just two nights has it? She's been rejecting me from the very beginning."

"But that's never put you down before..."

"Yeah well I never said that I...that thing..." Sirius studied his friend as James' eyes refused to meet his.

"What exactly did you tell her Prongs?"

"I...I..."

"OH MERLIN DID YOU...?" Sirius gasped, a strange amused expression across his face.  
"Well that all depends on what you mean," James said nervously, shocked at his friends sudden outburst.  
"Did you try and...you know..." Sirius said using his suggestive eyebrows.

"No! Sirius! No!" James said, "Merlin no! I would never...well I-of course I wouldn't!"

"You so would," Sirius grinned and Lily could feel herself blushing a little and oddly fought the strange urge to laugh.

"Sirius!" James moaned.

"What? I mean it makes sense...you being alone in a tent with Lily for two days. I mean you're bound to want to-"  
"Yeah can we move on please? Thanks," James said, quickly cutting him short, "No I did not try to do _**that.**_"

"Well I did...and succeeded," Sirius grinned nostalgically before James gave him a stern look, "Well did you do the other thing then?"

"Well bloody hell Sirius how am I supposed to know what you mean by 'the other thing'?"  
"Alright alright," Sirius said airily, amused that James was getting so worked up, "Did you tell her that you love her?" Lily's brow furrowed at this thought. It had only been last night when she had thought the same thing, when she had found herself alone after her..._**first**_ moment with James. She did have some memory of something like that but thought it was nothing more than a dream.

_**Could he really have said that?**_

"WellImihavsaid-"  
"What?"  
"Yes."  
"You utter pleb."

Lily felt her breath catch and slapped a hand to her mouth before it gave away her position.

_**James Potter is in love with me...**_

Sure Lily knew that James had always fancied her; he never wasted his time trying to woo her, telling everyone that he could that he was Lily's soon-to-be-boyfriend, jealously glancing at her whenever she was with another boy, but she had never in a million years thought that James was _**in love**_ with her. The sudden wave of guilt washed over her, drowning her slowly. How long had he been in love with her for? When she had said all those horrible things in the past, had he loved her then? If so, how could he possibly still love her now? How could she have told him that she couldn't be with him for being unsure, blaming him?

"Well...did you mean it?" Sirius asked and Lily found herself clutching to the bark of the oak with her nails. She didn't really know what she wanted him to say. Did _**she**_ love _**him**_ if that was the case? She couldn't help but feel the impending disappointment, a painful pang in her heart waiting to explode the moment he said 'no', but did she really want something as serious as love?

"I think I did...I mean I do..." James muttered, setting the army of butterflies free in Lily's stomach.

"Prongs mate," Sirius said with a sigh, "Telling a girl you love her just...scares her off-"  
"How would you know?" James asked, "When was the last time you told a girl you loved her?"  
"Well I haven't."  
"Well then how-"  
"James mate, how many girls have I been with? Now look at that compared to how many times I've told them I love them...I rest my case."  
"Well....it's alright for you," James argued, "You've never been in love."  
"How do you know?" Sirius asked and James gave him a look, causing a wide grin to spread across his handsome face, "Yeah alright I'll give you that one." James laughed and ran his fingers through his hair, messing up his already scruffy matt even further.

_**I love it when he does that...**_

_**Shut up Lily, not now.**_

She didn't know when she had begun to notice every single little habit that James Potter had but it wasn't helping her at all.

"Come on mate, let's go get something to eat; maybe madam Pomfrey will have sent news of Remus and Ellie," Sirius said and James nodded following his friend closely behind before he suddenly stopped and lagged behind.

"Erm...actually Padfoot, I'm going to hang round for a while..." He said hesitantly and Lily froze.

"Alright," Sirius said without questioning, "If you need me my face will be stuck to Becky Taylor..."  
"Wow Sirius, the same girl four days in a row?" James said, "Are you sure you're not in love?" Sirius didn't turn to look at his friend but stuck his finger up at him as he carried on walking with his back to him, chuckling to himself. Lily watched curiously as James waited until Sirius had disappeared before he seemed to pull out a blank sheet of parchment. Carefully he placed the tip of his wand to its centre and muttered:

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Within an instant, a number of strange markings appeared on the parchment and James perched himself on a low branch, scrutinizing it until his eyes fixed in one place. Lily didn't know how long James was going to stay perched on his branch so she swiftly made the decision to reveal herself, careful to create a believable story as she went. Craftily, she slowly marched on the spot, making it seem as though she were walking before she emerged from behind the tree just in time to see James scrunch the parchment into his pocket.

"Oh..." He said when he saw her and his face seemed to soften though his body didn't.

"Oh..."Lily said as though she didn't realize he had been sitting there, "Hello."

"Hi," James said timidly and it made Lily's heart flutter knowing how vulnerable he was being in love with her, "How's your ankle?"  
"Madame Pomfrey fixed it as soon as we came back," Lily informed, twisting it a little to prove her point, "I guess I was so worried about Ellie that I forgot about the pain running through that forest last night..."

"I probably would have felt the same," James said, smiling a little, making Lily's heart melt, "I'm sorry for yelling at you when she was attacked."

"You were looking out for me..." Lily smiled and they both felt as though Lily didn't need to continue to inform James that she had forgiven him.

"So erm...whatchya doing?" She asked casually, maybe too casually.

"Thinking..." James answered quietly.  
"Yeah that's...what I've been doing too."  
_**Well **__that's__** not a lie...**_

"James what happened before-" Lily began but she was already interrupted.

"Lily, you don't have to say anything it was...all in the heat of the moment right?" James said hurriedly, "You and I would never work, you're right."

"Yeah that's...we wouldn't?" Lily asked, slightly confused.

"Well...no of course not!" James said, trying to act as though he genuinely agreed with all this.

"And why do you think that?" Lily asked, playing along.

"Well we're just different," James said, jumping down from the branch, "I mean, like you said, you couldn't possibly have a relationship with someone that apparently changes too much and I can't possibly have one with someone I can't have a laugh with."  
_**Ouch...**_

"Well I'm sorry you feel that way," Lily said, getting angry, "And why can't you have a laugh with me; because I'm not a bully like you and black?"  
"See! This is exactly what I mean! You always get offended!"

"Oh well I'm sorry that I don't find hexing people in the slightest bit amusing!"

"Hey I don't do that anymore and I only ever did that to Severus and he deserved it!"  
"I thought you had changed Potter!"  
"Well I'm sorry I'm not perfect Lily, I'm sorry I'm not in the slug club like you and the rest of Slughorn's little collection! I'm sorry that I never have been and never will be good enough for you!"

"You know what? I'm glad that we don't belong together!"  
"Well so am I!"  
"Well then it's a good thing I said no isn't it Potter!" Lily said, storming off back to camp muttering under her breath, leaving him staring after her. Oh how she hated him, she loathed him and yet...she longed for him to hold her like he did on that rainy day in the tent. She wanted to see him ruffle his hair again, his impish grin, that half-lidded longing look in his eyes when their lips were inches apart. She wanted to smell the aftershave, feel his warmth radiating from him, to wear his Westgate Winged Horses shirt knowing that it was his and that he'd worn it. And, what she wanted more than anything was to be his, in his arms with the feel of his lips against hers.

_**Author's note:**__** TADAAAA! Another Chapter is complete! It didn't feel right dragging them back to school without bringing it all back together beforehand so here's the warm up for the end. Sorry for the lack of Ellie and Remus in this one but I couldn't have the injured and the dangerous hanging around camp lol XD I hope you enjoyed it although it's not the greatest chapter I've written PLEASE REVIEW as always and a HUGE thanks to those who have xxx**_


	12. Welcome Back

After the excitement of what was supposed to be a very peaceful retreat to the forest, Hogwarts seemed extremely uneventful. Lily sat doodling on her parchment in the library, making it at least look like she had something worthwhile to do. Ellie's absence had left Lily with very little to do and she had more than often tried to sneak into the hospital wing to see her friend during the very early hours of the morning only to be thrown out by Madame Pomfrey.

"Wandering around after hours; five points from Gryffindor!" Had been her response to Lily's loyalty and Lily's reward had been boredom and subtle glares from her fellow housemates. She wouldn't have minded so much if her other close friend Alice wasn't constantly stuck to her boyfriends face; then again Lily's disgust could have just been jealousy. James had not spoken to Lily since their return and it had been almost a week, most days he didn't even look at her; it was as if their 'moments', as Lily liked to call them, meant nothing nor existed. She had planned to start a conversation during potions class but surprisingly James had switched desks, next to a Slytherin no less. Lily had not expected this, not at all and it hurt like hell. Was this what it had felt like when she had given him the cold shoulder? She didn't really know what hurt the most, James practically calling her boring and uninteresting the last time they had spoken, or the fact that he no longer spoke to her at all. Maybe James no longer speaking to her was a good thing, after all this was what she had been worried about: James getting bored of her and throwing her away like she was nothing more than a used tissue. The only difference was that this time it was the used tissues fault. She knew that she had overreacted but the fact that she would have been so vulnerable in that moment when she admitted her feelings made her blood boil. Would he have been that blunt with her even then?

"_**...and I can't possibly have one with someone I can't have a laugh with."**_

Would he have laughed at her if she had gotten her chance to tell him the truth?

Boring, dull, plain, and yet he had told her that he loved her, whispered it into her ear after what was probably their most intimate moment. How can you stop loving someone that fast? The fact was that you just couldn't and that's why Lily had kept trying when he hadn't these past few days. It was also the real reason she was in the Library, watching James Potter from afar over the top of her potions book. The only problem was that he was never alone; she'd love to blast everyone away from him with her wand or freeze time leaving only her and James mobile.

_**Damn his popularity...**_

She'd try anything to get James talking to her again because, finally, she understood how he felt and why he had tried so hard to make her his. That thought alone released the army of butterflies within Lily's stomach, fluttering wildly when she thought once again of his lips pressed against hers. Suddenly Lily heard the shuffle of quiet footsteps behind her and she turned to face Madame Pomfrey.

"Ellie's awake," She said almost inaudibly with a small smile on her face, "You can see her now." Lily stared open mouthed at Madame Pomfrey for a few seconds, letting it all sink in until suddenly she leapt up and rammed her books back into her bag much to the annoyance of Madame Pince. Hurriedly she darted past Madame Pomfrey and out of the library, half excited to see Ellie, half wishing she didn't have to leave James in the Library.

***

She was looking at him and he knew it but he wouldn't give in and look her way; she meant what she said and he had to deal with it, he wouldn't let her know that he was pining for her. He knew why she was looking; they hadn't spoken in days, he'd even lasted five days without ogling at her from afar and she was wondering how long it would take for him to crack. It was better this way anyway; he finally knew where he stood. He guessed he always knew but never wanted to admit it. She said, when he had held her last that she couldn't trust him and he cursed the old him for losing her. She even said that she was _**glad**_ that they didn't get along, that they weren't meant to be. James would never be with his Lily...no...Lily. Not his.

"_**Well then it's a good thing I said no isn't it Potter!"**_

He wished every day since they had returned that they hadn't met her in that forest once more before their return to Hogwarts; that he had just left for breakfast with Sirius and hadn't lingered to look at Remus once more on their map, just to be reassured. You see, if he hadn't done that then their argument would never had happened, those words would have never come out of her mouth and he could still have gone on pretending that he and Lily had a chance. He would still be his cocky self, he would still have a reason to show off and stand tall...just knowing that she was watching, just knowing that the stunning green of her eyes were fixed on him, that he actually had her attention...just for a moment. It gave him something to look forward to, after all school was nothing without her or his friends and right now he had neither. Even though Remus had been ok after his transformation, he had remained in the Hospital Wing with Ellie so that it didn't look suspicious and their story of a bear attack was made believable. After all, it was obvious that Ellie had been attacked by an animal and Remus was beginning to have a lot more scars than any normal boy of his age. Sirius would have normally been with him; he would have cracked a joke or two or even managed to bring a smile to his face. Sirius could always to that, no matter how annoying it was, no matter how inappropriate; he could always make James smile stupidly. He was really what James needed right now, but no, he had been caught snogging Becky Taylor at the back of the class _**again **_and had landed himself a detention, leaving James all alone. Well...alone apart from Frank, Alice and two Ravenclaws he barely knew. So there he was, stuck in the library with the happy couple, two strangers and a plain piece of parchment he was now beginning to doodle on just to make Lily think that he was actually there for a purpose, not that he just had nothing else to do. Suddenly James noticed from the corner of his eye the tall and thin frame of the school nurse, scuffling hurriedly towards Lily. Within an instant Lily jumped to her feet, ramming her books into her bag and James' heart leapt. Ellie must have been ok which meant that Remus would be ok. Soon he would have his friend back. As soon as Lily had run from the room, James turned his gaze to the door from which she had departed and the familiar melancholy longing filled his heart once more, oh how he hated this. Madam Pomfrey caught his eye and curled her finger summoning him to her. James heart beat accelerated. He could go too...with Lily? Hurriedly he jumped to his feet and mumbled something to his silent study buddies before practically running over to the nurse.

"Ellie is awake," She smiled, "Evans is visiting her at the moment and I'm sure Remus would like to see his own friend after being stuck in there for a week."  
"Thanks Miss," James said before rushing though the door behind Lily. Today was going to be a good day, a break from the difficult; he had Remus back.

***

Lily burst through the doors of the Hospital wing, clutching the sack full of chocolate frogs she had bought from Hogsmede on their return to Hogwarts. Her fiery hair stuck out at all ends and her breathing was heavy after running up to the girls' dormitories to retrieve them but she didn't care. The Hospital Wing would have been deserted if it weren't for her two friends; most kids didn't bother skiving or making a drama out of being ill when it was near the end of the school year.

"Ellie!" She called excitedly and smiled when she saw Remus sitting on the end of her bed. He was pale, too pale and far too skinny for his own good but his smile seemed to make up for that; she was so glad he was ok. Hurriedly she dumped the sack of chocolate at the foot of her bed and threw her arms around him.

"So _**that **_was your furry little problem?" Lily giggled, "You're hardly little Remus..."

"Well it was hardly supposed to be obvious," Remus said quietly but Lily could detect the smile in his voice.  
"Ahem..._**best friend **_lying in the bed here..."

Lily let go of Remus and beamed stupidly at her best friend although she was a little shocked to see her in the state she was. Ellie's smiling lips had been split and she was extremely pale.

_**Probably from blood loss...**_

Her right arm was clad in a thick cast and she wore a long white nightgown which Lily guessed reached down to her ankles like most hospital gowns did. The only colour on her face appeared to be the dull red of several scratches and the purple of bruises against the white canvas that was her skin. Her once fair and wavy hair was now limp and just as colourless as the rest of her was. She attempted to sit up in preparation for the long conversation that was to come but she winced before her good hand hurriedly clutched her side.

"Ow!" she moaned, although it was quick and sharp. Lily had always admired Ellie's ability to make such a big deal appear to be nothing at all.

"Are you ok for a hug?" Lily asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeing the side she had clutched; it suddenly dawned on her that the thick coat of blood that had been on her hand the night of the attack had come from that very same action.

"Oh I could do with one of those," Ellie smiled, "But...be gentle with me..." Lily grinned and crawled onto the bed next to Ellie, carefully lying down next to her and snuggling up.

"You know I didn't even know I'd been here for nearly a week until Remus told me," Ellie said disbelievingly, "I just thought I kept dozing off...not going back to sleep for another day or two each time!"

"Wuss..." Lily teased, grinning, "You really are pathetic do you know that? A few scratches and bruises and you take nearly a week off school?" It was only then when Lily noticed Remus' serious lack of speech and suddenly felt extremely guilty for making the joke. The thoughts that must have been running through his head, the guilt coursing through his body must have been immense; there was no joking about this for Remus.

"Shut up Evans," Ellie grinned, nudging Lily before wincing and seriously regretting it. Seeing the look on Remus' face made Lily relieved that Ellie wasn't angry at him at all; who knew what that could have done to the poor boy...

"I'll erm...leave you two alone then," He said quietly before heading over to Madame Pomfrey's office, taking full advantage of her absence.

"Oh don-" Ellie began but suddenly stopped; Lily guessed this was because she realized that letting him go was probably the best thing to do. Let him be. When he finally disappeared into the office Ellie turned to face her friend.

"He's been like that every time I've managed to wake up," Ellie explained sadly, "He was quiet before but now it's just ridiculous; the only thing I've heard him say since we got back is 'are you feeling ok?' and to be quite honest I hear quite enough of that from Madame Pomfrey."

"Bless him, he must feel awful," Lily said, eyeing the space he had sat.

"But I don't want him to feel awful," Ellie said hopelessly, "It wasn't his fault; it's what happens and he can't stop it. Ok maybe he could have but everyone loses something important at some point right?"

"What do you mean by that?" Lily blinked.

"He has these pills that seem to stop it from happening but he needs to take them when the moon is at certain stages, he lost them and didn't take the final dosage," Ellie explained, "Anyway...thanks for coming to my rescue Lily. I recognised your voice as soon as I heard it."

"I'm surprised you heard me at all let alone _**recognised **_me; you were half dead when we found you."

"I'm guessing James took care of Remus then?" Ellie asked.

"Yeah," Lily said almost wistfully and Ellie raised an eyebrow.

"So erm...how did you manage to get so lost then?" She asked, "That was the reason Remus and I were alone when you found us; we were looking for you."

"James failed to mention that he had no idea how to read a map and we ended up completely off course with no idea where we were or with any sense of direction," Lily shrugged.

"Since when do you call him James?" Ellie asked and Lily blushed.

"Oh...only...only recently," She said quietly and Ellie stifled as shriek.

"What happened?" She demanded, "Are you friends? Are you going out now? Do you _**like **_him? Did you snog?"

"Barely, no, I-I think so and...yes," Lily blushed.

"Whoa wait a second, if you snogged and you _**like**_ him why aren't you going out yet? And did you just say that you were _**barely**_ friends?"

"Long story short, we had another argument and now we're not speaking," Lily said sadly.

"What? Lily that's so stupid! How did it all start? I mean was it a good kiss?"

"Well...it sort of happened twice..."  
"...Which makes the fact that you're not speaking even stupider!" Ellie frowned.

"Yeah well...chocolate frog?" Lily tried feebly but Ellie just stared her down.

"You said something stupid didn't you?"

"Me?" Lily shrieked, "Why do I have to be the one that messed it up?"  
"Because everyone knows that James Potter wouldn't turn you down,_** especially**_ after you've snogged...twice!"

"I..." Lily tried but Ellie gave her 'the look' again and she sighed, "Well...the first time it happened I said that I didn't want to go out with him because he changed too much for it to work-"  
"But that wouldn't happen if you-!"  
"And the second time I said some very mean things and both times he told me he loved me but...but I didn't believe it; I thought I had dreamt it or misheard him or something..."

"Lily you pleb...why are you still single?"

"Because I've...oh Merlin be quiet!" Lily panicked as none other than James Potter stepped into the Hospital Wing. He froze at the sight of them and a small smile spread across his face as the sight of Ellie alive and well in her bed.

"Not dead yet?" He joked and Ellie grinned as Lily avoided all eye contact.

"Well this most definitely has been an exciting term," She said, secretly hinting, "I wouldn't dream of missing the ending." James smiled awkwardly and Lily wasn't sure whether he fully understood all that was underneath those words.

"Is Remus about?" He asked and Ellie nodded in the direction of the nurse's office, "Let's see if you can anything out of him."  
"He hasn't spoken much?"

"No, not really," Ellie sighed.

"I'll see to that," James smiled and strode over to the office.

"Oh God, you must have said something bad..." Ellie said sadly.

"Why do you say that?" Lily asked.

"He didn't even look at you."


	13. Wonderfully Awkward

"Had enough of skiving yet?" James asked as he entered Madame Pomfrey's office. It was a small place with not much colour, she probably thought it was practical, and cauldrons filled with bubbling mixtures and concoctions filled the room with an odd spiced smell, rather like aniseed. Remus turned to face his friend but his smile didn't stretch all that much, instead James received a quick jerk from the corner of his mouth.

"To be honest I'd rather stay in here for the rest of my life," Remus sighed.

"Remus-"  
"Don't even start James!" Remus snapped, "Don't even try to tell me that it wasn't my fault, that there was nothing that I could have done! We both know that I'm a hazard to everyone at Hogwarts and it's a damn good thing that this is our last year! You know what? I think it's just best that I disappear after we leave school."  
"What!?" James gasped, "Remus you-!" It was then that James noticed that the door was open and he swiftly shut it behind him, careful not to slam it so that the girls wouldn't get suspicious.

"Remus, the order needs you, you can't disappear!" He whispered, "And besides, this is a one off; it's not like it happens all the time!"  
"It's not one off!" Remus retaliated, "Remember Severus? If you hadn't been there I would have killed him!"  
"Remus, Sirius led him there! You wouldn't have been anywhere near anyone else if he wasn't being such a prat, and anyway, you didn't attack him, I saved him so this _**is**_ a one off!"  
"But that's not the point, James; you shouldn't _**have**_ to save anyone from me and this is the second time you have!" Remus yelled close to tears, "I hate waking up in the middle of nowhere, having no idea what I've been doing for the last few hours, whether I've killed or hurt anyone, being the last one to know!"

"Well you can't help that and running away isn't going to solve anything!" James argued, "The Order needs you-"

"Oh The Order has plenty!" Remus interrupted, "Why am I so special?"  
"Remus you're the most intelligent bloke I know and without you The Order's brain power goes down by half. You keep me and Sirius in order and without you we'd probably have done some things we'd really regret. You're loyal and trustworthy and a shoulder to cry on; I think I'd have moped around the castle for years if it wasn't for your advice on Lily," James paused as he said her name but covered it up quickly, "And Ellie seems to agree with me..."  
"What?" Remus said, his eyes suddenly meeting his.

"Oh come on Remus, surely you must have noticed-"  
"I have..." Remus said but he lowered his eyes as soon as he said it, "Although I very much doubt she still-"  
"She does," James said rolling his eyes, "You think she'd still be talking to you if she didn't? You break her arm, slice her open and still she's ogling at you." Remus blushed and James grinned.

"Makes me sound a bit sadistic doesn't it?" Remus said quietly.

"Face it mate, you're irresistible," James grinned, "Wait...how _**did**_ you find out in the end?"

Remus didn't answer but a wide grin spread across his face and he lowered his gaze.

"Enough said," James smirked.

***

"What do you think they're talking about?" Ellie asked as she stared in the direction if Madame Pomfrey's office.

"I dunno but James has closed the door so it must be man stuff."

"What did you say to make him so upset Lily?" Ellie enquired, never taking her eyes off of the office door.

"Something about me being glad that we don't get along and that it's a good thing I never said yes to him," Lily said casually; maybe if she said it that way it wouldn't seem like such a big deal.

"Erm...why!?" Ellie said, her head whirring round to face her, "You like him!"  
"Yeah well he made me mad," Lily frowned, "He said that we'd never work out-"  
"What?" Ellie blinked, "James Potter said that?"  
"Well he didn't mean it of course, he'd told Sirius minutes before that he loved me; he just thought that it was time to accept the way things are and lie to me."  
"But...you knew..."  
"Yeah, and I was going to tell him that I would...you know...but then he said that he'd never go out with someone he couldn't have a laugh with and I couldn't help but think...ouch. Can you imagine if I had told him that I liked him and then he has the audacity to come out with that?"

"Lily he obviously didn't mean it," Ellie sighed.

"Well it must have come from somewhere; whether or not he was just saying it to stop pestering me it still hurt. I mean, it wasn't exactly the nicest way to tell someone that you're 'over' them is it? Surely you're not supposed to insult them, I mean, if we went out and he broke up with me what would he say? 'Oh sorry you're far too stubborn and ginger for me to go out with you and your nose is awfully long you should check it out.'"

Ellie snorted.

"What are you talking about Lily? You have a widdle nose! It's your stubbornness that needs to be checked out."

"Quiet you," Lily smiled, "It was an example."

"Speaking of erm...romaticles..." Ellie said shyly, playing with her thin white duvet, "I have a little something to tell you."  
"No!" Lily grinned, "You didn't...?"

"Well...not really..."  
"Oh he's not bad is he?"

"Well he's cutely inexperienced but that's not the point. He sort of turned into a werewolf before it turned into a proper kiss." Lily had to stifle a laugh.

"Well I suppose not many people can say that really; you should feel privileged."  
"Well I wouldn't have minded if he hadn't tried to kill me afterwards," Ellie shrugged.

"I bet that killed the mood."  
"Oh very much so," Ellie grinned and the two girls couldn't help but laugh, "Seriously though, the boy is so naive that when I try and get his attention he doesn't give me even a little bit but when he does he gives me far too much that it almost kills me."

"Oh god it's the complete opposite for me," Lily sighed, "When I'm not interested he wants me but when I am he couldn't care less."  
"I bet he does."  
"He hasn't even looked at me for days."  
"Bet he's dying inside having missed his daily dosage of red hair and green eyes; you're both far too stubborn."

"Well true but I still think-"  
"Have Potter and Lupin left?" came a voice and Lily jumped. Oh Merlin, Madame Pomfrey, how long had she been here and how much had she heard?

"In the office," Lily said, the words spilling from her mouth in shock.

"What in Merlin's name are they doing in there?" She said, strutting towards her office, "If Potter's so much as touched those potions..."

Within an instant the two boys were cast out of the office by the nurse and ushered towards Ellie's bed.

"Why is it that you two always do what you're not supposed to?" She sighed, "Especially you Potter even if you are head boy!"

"Old habits," James shrugged and with a huff the nurse retired to her office leaving the four in an awkward silence.

"Thanks for what you did James," Ellie smiled, breaking the silence, careful not to use the word 'saving' in order not to upset Remus, "It was very gallant."

"S'nothing..." James said quietly, desperately trying to ignore the smell of Lily's shampoo; shame she hadn't had the opportunity to wear it when they were alone in that tent...

James averted his eyes; he was string far too much.

"You and Lily made a really good team huh?" Ellie said, trying to get even the smallest exchange going between them. The pair said nothing but nodded instead.

"So what have I missed?" she tried again but Lily gave her a stern look, "I'm just curious..."

"Nothing's going on..." James said quietly but added more when he realized it applied to more than her question, "The usual rubbish. We would rather know what's going on with you; you're the exciting one."

"Doubt it; I've been asleep all this time...at least I think I have...Remus?" Ellie said but Remus just nodded.

"You coming out soon?" James asked when she looked disappointed.

"Madam Pomfrey said tomorrow looks good now that I'm fully conscious."

"What?" Lily said suddenly, "You never told me that!"

"You didn't ask," Ellie shrugged, "Is it really that exciting?"

"Of course it is!" Lily said, her arms flying, "It's been so boring without you! I feel like a right pleb walking around alone, hanging out in the Library with nothing else to do..."  
"Alone?" Remus asked, looking confused, "What about J-?" He turned questioningly to James but quickly stopped talking as soon as he saw the look on his face. The four remained silent, frozen with awkwardness until James piped up.

"Well I'm glad you're ok Ellie," He smiled, "I've erm...got Quidditch practice, last one ever so I better not be late; you wanna come Moony? Sirius will be there..."

"Oh...I...I think I might just stay here..." Remus said quietly.

"Remus you don't have to look after me you know," Ellie said gently, "It's ok, I'm awake now; you've been in here for days. Go have fun..."  
"Well if you want me to go-"

"I didn't say that I _**want**_ you to go-"

"I guess I can just-"

"I mean I like you being here-"

"I just feel better staying-"

"It's kinda sweet you sticking with me all this time-"

"After everything and-"

"I don't want you to feel like you have to stick by me-"  
"I don't want you to think that I-"

"I want you to have fun and stop feeling so guilty. I'm fine ok? No big deal. It was an accident; I mean it's not like you planned to hurt me and guess what, I don't really care that you did because it...wasn't you...?" Ellie said, her brow furrowing at the end, "That did make sense right?" Lily couldn't help but grin from ear to ear; they were both so perfect, so ridiculously awkward. Remus smiled but with his eyes down, still unconvinced.

"See...?" James said quietly, grinning just as broadly as Lily.

"I guess I haven't seen Sirius in a while..." Remus smiled.

"Great!" James beamed, "Bye Ellie...Evans..." Lily gave him a small smile but he did not return in, turning instead with Remus close behind him as they exited for the Quidditch pitch.

"How wonderfully awkward," Ellie smiled wistfully.

"How can awkwardness possibly be wonderful?" Lily asked with her head in her hands.

"You had your back to him Lily," Ellie beamed, "He was looking down at you on the bed most of the time! Of course he still likes you! Did you hear that pause when he said goodbye; the way he painfully said your name? He misses you Lily; it's obvious."

"Is it really?" Lily blinked bewildered.

"Seriously Lily you're just as bad as Remus!" Ellie moaned and Lily couldn't help but grin. Ellie seemed to like the 'wonderfully awkward'.

**Authors note: Ok first off, sorry for the big delay in this story. I had writers block because I needed to find a way to round it all up and get to the end. Only after I read someone's review did I realise that I hadn't updates since October XD as always PLEASE REVIEW and it will all come together soon : ) **


	14. Pumpkin Juice

It was a humid summer storm that sadly ended James Potter's last Quidditch practice at Hogwarts earlier than usual; therefore he was slightly grateful when his teammates, shortly followed by Remus and Sirius, poured ice cold pumpkin juice all over him in celebration, cooling him when the warm drizzle couldn't. Drenched, sticky and sweet, James dismissed his teammates for the last time, told Remus and Sirius to go on ahead and lingered in the stands; holding the golden snitch that had belonged to him for six years tenderly in his hand. For one last time he played what could no longer be his usual past time; letting the snitch escape through his fingers and catching it at the last minute. It was something that had awed and amused his friends the moment he discovered that the lock to the ball trunk had broken in a legendary, record-breaking match, and so, the staff had decided to keep it that way as a memorial. He didn't quite know what to think, what to feel; tomorrow was his last day in his seventh year, and he couldn't help but feel like he'd accomplished nothing.

Sighing, he lay down on the bench as the drizzle slowly turned into a downpour, soaking him through his crimson robes, spattering his glasses. It was his second to last day and he hadn't spoken to Lily in a week; that wasn't good. In less than twenty-four hours it would be his last day ever; what if he never saw or spoke to her again once he had stepped off of the Hogwarts express forever? He needed to face the facts. He'd been chasing the same girl for seven years and nothing had happened. Well, it had...sort of...and, to be perfectly honest, knowing how it felt to really kiss Lily Evans, to hold her and feel her kiss him back, had _**definitely**_ made the longing sensation within him a lot worse.

Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning struck the far side of the pitch, making James jerk back into the real world, out of his own little realm, and he sensibly decided that now was the time to go inside. Shoving the snitch inside his pocket and holding it there so that it couldn't escape, he descended the steps of the stalls and headed in the direction of the boy's changing rooms.

Trudging across the mud, feeling his footsteps squelch and sink into the muck as he walked, he decided then and there that he would speak to her tomorrow, apologize, tell her how he really felt; at least he could say that he tried if she refused him for the final time. At that thought, James felt a terrible pang in his chest; he didn't want to leave Lily behind. He didn't want to give up; if only he had more time.

_**You've had seven years, James; how much more do you need?**_

But he had been so close; he was sure that if they hadn't had that argument on the last day of the trip, she would be there in his arms at that very moment...or at the very least, they would have been on speaking terms with a healthy prospect of keeping in touch after tomorrow's celebration.

Pressing his palm against the door of the changing rooms, he threw his sopping wet robe on the nearest bench, making sure that it kept just enough weight on the snitch so that it wouldn't fly away; he didn't really want detention for losing it on the last day of school. Leaving a mucky trail behind him, James strolled over to his bag and pulled out a dry shirt and a pair of school robes; tugging his wet shirt over his head.

"James?" came a voice and he froze. Tugging the shirt fully off of himself and whirling around, his heart stopped, for there she stood, equally as drenched, shivering slightly in the boys changing rooms. Had he just walked straight past her? Her fiery red hair curled and stuck to the pale skin of her face, her lips redder than usual from the cold conditioning of the changing rooms.

_**Stop it; you're staring too much again.**_

"Why are you all wet?" He said stupidly and Lily blushed, "And how come you're in the boys' changing rooms?"

"What do you think Potter?" Lily said shivering, "I waited for you, but, being an idiot, you decided to stay out in a thunderstorm; so when everyone left, I thought I'd wait in here before I die of pneumonia. Little did I know that the air outside was humid and the air in here was freezing."

"W-why did you wait for me?" James asked in amazement; hoping to God that she was going to say what he thought she was.

"We haven't spoken for a week," She said timidly. She averted her eyes and there was a long pause before James decided to say something.

"Is that all?" He asked.

"Well, Ellie said that it was stupid us not speaking to each other..." She said and there was another pause.

"So what you're saying, Evans, is that because Ellie asked you to, you're here talking to me?" James said bluntly, "Why did you even bother?"

"At least I'm making the effort, Potter!" Lily said angrily, "You won't even look at me!" Her eyes widened and she blushed madly as soon as the words escaped her lips. So Lily had noticed that he had purposely avoided gazing in her direction this past week? What did that mean? Had _**she**_ been gazing at _**him **_hoping to catch his eye? That thought alone made James' heart soar.

"I...I just mean that it's _**you**_ giving me the cold shoulder Potter, not the other way round."

"I thought it would be best if I didn't speak to you."

"Why?" Lily asked bewildered.

"Because, Evans, every time we have an argument and I go over to apologise it always goes wrong or you overreact."

"I don't overre-!"

"And anyway, if you're observant enough to notice that I 'won't look at you', you must care enough to want-!"

"I don't have to be observant, Potter to-!

"...TO APOLOGISE YOURSELF; I MEAN WHY-!"

"DON'T YOU YELL AT ME, POTTER! IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT-!"

"...IS IT ALWAYS ME THAT HAS TO APOLOGISE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S MY FAULT?"

"...WE'RE HAVING THIS ARGUMENT! OF COURSE IT'S YOUR FAULT! I WAS ACTUALLY ABOUT TO SAY SOMETHING NICE BEFORE YOU TOLD ME THAT I WAS A BORE WITH NO SESNE OF HUMOUR! THAT I WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR MR POPULAR JAMES POTTER!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WANTED ME TO STOP BUGGING YOU ABOUT LIKING YOU?"

"YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A HELL OF A LOT NICER, POTTER! I CAN SAY A LOT ABOUT YOU THAT I LEFT OUT!"

"LIKE WHAT?"

"YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?"

"YES I DO!"

"YOU'RE SHALLOW, RUDE, OBNOXIOUS, PIG-HEADED, A BULLY-"

"HAVE YOU NOT NOTICED A THING, EVANS? I STOPPED ALL THAT FOR YOU AND NOW EVEN YOU KNOW SNIVELLUS WAS A PRAT!"

"OH WELL AREN'T YOU GALLANT, POTTER? SACRIFICING YOUR LIFE AS A GIT MUST HAVE BEEN SO DIFFICULT!"

"OH AND I SUPPOSE YOU'RE LITTLE MISS PERFECT?"

"WHAT HAVE I DONE?"

"YOU'RE MEAN TO ME, YOU DON'T CARE HOW I FEEL AT ALL, YOU TOYED WITH ME BACK AT THAT TENT-!"

"I STOPPED FOR A VERY GOOD REASON POTTER AND YOU KNOW IT!"

"COULDN'T YOU HAVE SAID IT BEFORE YOU SNOGGED MY FACE OFF?"

"I THINK YOU'LL FIND, POTTER THAT YOU CAME ONTO ME!"

"RUBBISH!"

"OH REALLY? I SUPPOSE THE FACT THAT YOU'VE BEEN PATHETICALLY TRAILING ME AROUND FOR YEARS DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING EITHER?"

"PATHETICALLY?"

"YES POTTER, PATHETICALLY. YOU HEARD ME; YOU'RE PATHETIC AND YOU NEED TO GET OVER ME AND GET A LIFE!"

James stood there, panting heavily with his heart completely shattered. How could she say that to him when she knew how much she meant to him?

"Right," he said quietly, horrified when he heard his voice break and wondered if she'd noticed. He shoved his clothes inside his bag and stormed towards the door but just has he placed his hand on it, she stopped him.

"James wait..." she said quietly and he stopped, "I lied..." He turned to face her and her emerald eyes were full of tears.

"I'm not here because Ellie asked me," She said timidly, "I'm here because I don't want to leave Hogwarts and never see you again."  
"Evans I..."  
"No just listen!" She cried, "I'm here because you not speaking to me, not even meeting my gaze made me feel...empty and I don't want to feel like that anymore! You were so thoughtful in that tent, when I was hurt and you took care of me like a gentleman; even if it was your fault, you made me feel really special. Of course I kissed you, you idiot; you were so sweet and caring that I forgot about all the stupid things that had happened before and I wish that you were like that all the time because I think...when you were like that, when you kissed me...I fell in love with you. I don't think you're pathetic at all, or any of the other things I said. I...I think you're lovely."

"Then...why did...did you say...?" James stammered; could this really be happening?

"Because I'm stubborn..." Lily smiled through her tears, "Too stubborn actually. We both are; I think that's why we fight all the time...but...I know that's not going to happen anymore because...I'm tired of it and...and I was hoping that we...could...?" Her eyes rose from the floor, meeting his and James' heart fluttered.

"We could...?" James asked stepping closer, longing for her to finish that sentence and Lily too stepped forward, now extremely distracted by James' wet torso, "We could do what, Evans?" He said it in a whisper, almost afraid that she would come to her senses if he spoke too loudly and she moved closer, her lips slightly apart, eyes half lidded. His heart leapt wildly in his chest as he felt her breath mingle with his and he dropped his bag into the floor.

His flesh tingled as her hands ran up his torso, over his shoulders and up the back of his neck, tangling her fingers in his thick, dark hair. He moved a shaky hand to a sopping ginger strand and twirled it between his fingers, before pressing his palm to the side of her face and running his fingers deeper into her fiery locks. She bit her lip and leaned in, kissing his jaw line until she reached his ear and nibbled gently, causing James's eyes to flutter close. He turned his head slightly and she pulled back until their lips were level. With their mouths parted, their breath mingling, they leaned in and their lips touched, fitting perfectly. James reached up and held each side of her face in his hands, brushing the stray tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs before they fell to her waist, pulling her into his arms. She let out a shuddered breath and entangled her fingers once more in his messy hair, the kiss becoming more frantic, each one perfectly sliding into the next. The warmth of his damp, bare skin pressed against her made Lily's heart dance with excitement and she raked her fingers through his hair, causing James to moan and squeeze her tighter; clearly he liked that. Pulling away he buried his face in the side of her neck, planting tender kisses randomly on her flesh and she shuddered, her hands sliding up his back. Running his parted lips gently along her jaw line, his mouth reached her ear and he entwined his fingers into her curling wet hair once more.

"We could do that?" He whispered and she could sense the smile in his voice.

"Exactly," She whispered back.

"Lily..." He whispered and she could hear the anxiety in his voice, "I love you."

"I love you too..." She smiled, "Even if you do reek of pumpkin juice..."

_**Author's note: TADAAA! Hope you liked it XD Remus and Ellie next! I thought I'd better post this quick because I was naughty and left a moth between posts the last time :S as always PLEASE REVIEW and thanky for reading : )**_


	15. Silly Evolution

Ellie knew exactly where the stubborn little red-head was heading when she finally said goodbye to her friend, and it most definitely wasn't the library like she had stated; what teacher would set a last-minute essay for the last day of term? Ellie smiled as she watched Lily hurry out of the Hospital Wing calling over her shoulder.

"I'll see you at dinner! Save me a seat?"

"If you're lucky," Ellie replied and giggled impishly when Lily narrowed her eyes at her over her shoulder. When her friend had finally departed, Ellie turned to face the Hospital Wing's gigantic arched window; the sky was a deep, stony grey, spewing spatters of rain onto the window pane.

_**Quidditch practice must be finishing early... **_

It was a sad thought to think that James Potter's last Quidditch practice had to be cut short, but Ellie had a feeling he would have forgotten all about that once Lily had visited 'the library'. Sighing, Ellie tidied the bed she had been staying in, shoving a chocolate frog into her mouth. God she needed chocolate; she needed a severe pick-me-up. This past week hadn't exactly been successful; she'd gotten lost in forest on a rescue mission, she'd almost been killed by a werewolf and now she wasn't even sure if anything was going to happen between herself and Remus. They had been so close. _**So close! **_

"Stupid human body," She mumbled, throwing a pillow "Why are we so soft and squidgy and fragile? Why can't we just evolve already and grow marble skin or something?" Grabbing what was practically Lily's bin bag full of chocolate and thanking Madame Pomfrey for everything she'd done, Ellie made her way up to the Gryffindor common room. As she walked past the Great Hall the warm smell of food wafted towards her and her stomach lurched unexpectedly; maybe she shouldn't eat much just yet. Deciding to give dinner a pass, she continued towards the Gryffindor common room, glad that everyone was in the hall and not skulking round the corridors bombarding her with questions about the 'bear attack' or whatever it was they'd been told.

It was a good thing Ellie had had Remus during her week off, otherwise she'd have had no idea about the password; clearly Lily's head was too full of James Potter for her to have remembered to inform her of it.

"Flux wood," She said to the Fat Lady almost breathlessly from lugging the huge bag of chocolate with her and climbed through the portrait hole. Venturing upstairs, she threw the bag at the end of her bed and lay on the covers with her eyes closed.

Tomorrow was her last day ever at Hogwarts and still her relationship with Remus was unclear. Well they had kissed.

_**Barely...**_

But it was still a kiss none the less. He was so distant in the Hospital Wing; could he possibly be angry at her? Does he hate her for being so stupid and going back for her wand, almost killing her and almost ruining his life forever? Well thinking about it like that made it almost definite; yep, he hated her. Ellie groaned and rolled over onto her stomach, her face buried in her pillow, hanging her arm off of the bed and rummaging around the open bag for something, _**anything**_ with caramel in it. She sat up, taking a large bite out of her chocolate bar and delved deep into her rucksack until found the novel both she and Remus had almost finished; she hadn't had a chance to unpack it due to the fact that she'd actually been unconscious for the past seven days. Finding the page she had folded at the corner, she miserably descended the stairs in search of a comfy armchair close to the fireplace.

Just as she placed a foot on the bottom step, her eyes focused on someone with his back to her, his slightly wavy hair wet from the rain outside as he stared into the fireplace motionless.

_**Remus!**_

Hurriedly and silently, Ellie retreated back a few steps and pressed her back against the stone, hugging her book to her.

_**Oh God, oh God, oh God!**_

What was she going to say? What was she going to do? Should she just casually walk downstairs and pretend nothing has happened and start a new or should she ask him straight out what's going on between them? She could use the book to start her off...no, that's pointless; they'd just babble on about the book for all hours and nothing would be resolved. This was the first time she was both conscious and they were alone together since the attack; she didn't want it to be awkward but she knew it was going to be. Wait...what was she doing hiding there!? She was wasting precious time; he might have left for dinner right now!

_**God I'm a basket case!**_

Hurrying back downstairs, she stopped, realising that she making too much noise to just _**happen**_ upon him and strategically slowed until she finally reached the bottom step. For a while she just stood there, staring at him trying desperately to think of something to start the conversation with until he turned to head up to the boys' dormitories and came face to face with her instead.

_**Great, now he knows you've just been standing there and look like a stalker!**_

"Hi," She said hurriedly, trying to salvage at least one positive thought he had of her.

"Hello," he said lowering his eyes, "You're not at dinner?"

"No, I...didn't feel like it," She said and cursed herself when she saw a new wave of guilt in Remus' eyes, "You're not at dinner?"

"Quidditch practice got a little...wet, so I came up here to change," he explained.

"Oh...well it's taken you ages hasn't it? Dinner started ages ago," she laughed nervously and Remus bit his lip.

"You should really eat something you know, keep your strength up," he tried.

"I have a tonne of chocolate upstairs," Ellie smiled, "I'm sorted."

"Still I think you should-"  
"Remus, I'm fine ok?" Ellie said softly, "I'm just a little nauseous from all the potions I've had to take, that's all."  
Remus didn't answer, instead his eyes lowered and his hands clenched into a fist.

_**Oh no; he really is angry with me...**_

"Remus?" Ellie said timidly, "I'm sorry."

"What?" Remus asked stunned before turning angry, "_**You're**_ sorry?"

"If I hadn't been so clumsy and dropped my wand and then went back for it, everything would have been fine and I wouldn't have been in the hospital wing and you wouldn't be feeling like this!"

"If I hadn't been so stupid and lost my medication, _**I **_wouldn't have turned into a monster!"

"But that's it Remus! You_** lost**_ it, it was an accident!"

"So was you dropping your wand! And if it had been on an ordinary day that wouldn't have hurt anyone, turning into a werewolf is dangerous no matter the situation!"

"It's not like you chose to turn into a werewolf!"

"No but it happens doesn't it? No matter what I do I can't seem to avoid turning into a monster!"  
"Will you stop calling yourself that? You're not a monster!"  
"Yes I am!"  
"No you're not; a monster would have done it on purpose, a monster wouldn't have stayed with me twenty-four-seven when I was in the Hospital Wing and I've never really thought about it, but I'm definitely sure that I wouldn't like a monster as much as I like _**you**_!"

"Ellie," Remus said pausing, "I...I think it best that...that you just stay away from me..."  
"Well that...that's...that's just _**crap**_!" Ellie spluttered, "If you only knew how long I've wanted to even speak to you let alone kiss you like I did you'd know how crap that suggestion really is!"

Remus blushed and bit his lip not exactly sure of what to say next.

_**God he's cute...**_

"You never told me that you've...liked me for a _**long **_time..." he said quietly.

"I didn't?" Ellie blinked. Oh God she hadn't!

_**Great...now he probably thinks I'm pathetic...**_

"Well, I have," Ellie said, trying to hide her embarrassment, "And I don't think I'm going to stop anytime soon, not even if it's for my own good so you can pretty much forget about that."

"But what if...next time...you're not so lucky and-"

"Remus I seriously doubt you'll misplace them after what happened," Ellie sighed, "And if you did you'd be an absolute moron which I _**know**_ you're not." Then something horrible occurred to her.

"Unless...what you're really trying to say is that..." She said quietly, swallowing the new lump in her throat, "You don't want to...that you don't want anything to happen between us."  
"No!" Remus said quickly, "No that's not...Ellie, I told you before I...well you know, before the incident, how I felt."  
"You know, it's ok if you don't," Ellie said in almost a whisper, "I mean you probably don't want someone who's all soft and squishy."  
"I...what?" Remus said now utterly confused.

"Well if I wasn't so soft and squishy I would have been alright after our little...encounter."

Remus blinked and within moments he burst out laughing trying to stop when he saw Ellie lower her eyes and blush intensely.

"Ellie, everyone is..._**soft and squishy**_," He said trying his best to stifle his laughter and his voice becoming softer, "Besides if you weren't, ki-" Suddenly he stopped and cleared his throat no longer willing to finish that sentence. After all, how does one go about telling someone else that it was precisely the softness of their lips that made kissing them so wonderful? Suddenly, his yearning to do it once more was stronger than ever; stronger than when he saw her lifeless and innocent in her hospital bed unsure if the kiss they had shared before was going to be their last, stronger than when he had felt the warmth of her hand when she lay slumbering weak and oblivious to his touch and even stronger than when he felt the overwhelming relief of her chocolaty brown eyes resting on him for the first time in days.

He slowly stepped towards her, his eyes unsure whether to stare into hers or the lips he desperately wanted to kiss.

"I...I blame evolution really," Ellie mumbled subconsciously as he came closer, she too became half lidded as her eyes switched from eyes to lips, "Stupid Darwin..."

"Why are you mumbling on about Darwin?" Remus whispered when he felt his breath mingle with hers.

"I...I dunno I'm just...I'm just going to shut up now," She said shaking her head, "Evolution's just stupid anyway...did you know we're supposed to lose our pinkies?"

_**What are you talking about Ellie you idiot?  
**_"S-stupid Darwin..." She whispered, and thankfully, Remus pressed his lips to hers before she could ramble on any more. Ellie's eyes fluttered to a close, and sensing that he was still a little unsure of what to do with himself, she took his wrists and wrapped his arms around her waist. Finally she was getting her proper kiss, the one she had been waiting for! Remus Lupin was kissing _**her**_! Suddenly overwhelmed by the thought, Ellie slid her hands up the back of his neck and into his tangled wet hair causing him to shiver as he held her there in his arms. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled herself closer, pressing their bodies tighter together.

Feeling a lot braver with every warm breath he tasted, Remus removed his arms from her waist and cupped her jaw with both hands, twirling a loose strand as he revelled in the sweet taste of the sneaky caramel she'd had upstairs. He didn't exactly know if what he was doing was alright, but their mouths seemed to fit together perfectly as each kiss slid into the next, their tongues gently caressing each other causing an army of butterflies to release themselves within him, bouncing off the walls, in his head and all over his heart making him to want to pull her closer, to lose control. With a shuddered breath he pulled away, tingling from head to toe as his butterflies flew back into their cage.

Ellie took a deep breath and opened her eyes as Remus admired the freshly kissed red of her lips.

"Oh God I can think of a million corny things to say right now..." She whispered.

"Like what?" Remus asked and she blushed.

"Nothing..."  
"No, what?"  
"No, don't, it's silly..."

"As corny as...I'm so glad you're soft and squishy?" Remus grinned.

"Ok...erm...yeah, yeah I think so," Ellie laughed.

"Go on then, tell me, I told you mine," Remus insisted.

"Oh...fine...If...if evolution had given me wings I'd be flying right now," Ellie said positively scarlet and Remus laughed.

"Stupid Darwin."

_**Authors note: Ta daa! Ok sorry it took so long and sorry about the I-hope-not-too-corny ending but I was watching 4 weddings and a funeral and I always just have to laugh at the corny bit when they get together and she's like "Is it still raining? I hadn't noticed..." and my friend was like, bet you can't think of a cornier line than that...well...guess I can! At least Ellie knew it was corny and Remus had the sense of humour to play along XD As always PLEASE REVIEW! And a happy belated new year from me! :P xxx**_


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